


Blood Drive: Aftermath

by Number54



Category: Corpse Party (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, I thought of this months before Blood Drive even came out, Mayushige, My version is way better tbh, Satoshi is a single Pringle here, Seinao hit me hard back in 2014 you guys don't even know, This is how Blood Drive happened in my head, ayushiki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-03
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-28 19:25:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 54,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8460088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Number54/pseuds/Number54
Summary: This is a story about my fantasy of the Blood Drive ending. This was originally intended to focus on SeikoxNaomi, but I have changed my mind. Contains Seiko x Naomi, Ayumi x Yoshiki, and Mayu x Morishige. Sachiko visits the students in their dreams to repay them for destroying the hellish Heavenly Host Elementary School. Moved over from FF.net.





	1. Shinozaki Hospitalized

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this like two (almost three) years ago way before Blood Drive even came out. I originally had it posted on FF.net, but I decided to move it over here because what the hell? This was my first fanfiction ever, so I apologize if it's a little rushed or there are some errors here and there. I've come a long way in my writing. Hope y'all like it!
> 
> P.S. I had absolutely no idea how to make page breaks back then, and I'm too lazy to go back and edit them in. Also P.O.V. switches frequently, so I made you some little notes that tells you who it switches to. I apologize for my mess, guys. Fun fact, this was my first piece of fanfiction ever so, again, I apologize for the errors.
> 
> \- 54

"How is she, doc?" Yoshiki Kishinuma had asked the doctor, whom had just emerged from the room that the class rep had been in since we had brought her to the hospital.

"She is in a vegetative state right now, Mr. Kishinuma." The doctor had replied.

"What's a vegetative state?" Satoshi Mochida asked while petting the head of his younger sister Yuka, whom had fallen asleep in his lap.

"Ms. Shinozaki is comatosed, which means she is in a state of unconsciousness, and cannot be woken up for the time being. She is unaware of her surroundings and fails to feel, speak, hear, or move. For a person to maintain consciousness, two parts of the brain must be fully functional, which would be the cerebral cortex and a structure located in the brainstem called reticular activating system or RAS. In her case, she has put so much pressure on the cerebral cortex of her brain that it has reduced her to this state. You carried her here just in time." The doctor said.

I could see the worry on Kishinuma's face. He really did care for the class rep. More than he cared to admit. Back inside that god-awful, nightmarish elementary school known as Heavenly Host, he had confessed to me that he was in love with her. I thought it was really sweet of him to be crushing on Shinozaki for so long like that, but she had the biggest crush on Satoshi, so Kishinuma had decided to let it go.

These last couple of months had really taken a toll on me. Our first trip to Heavenly Host had traumatized me so much...so many corpses of innocent people decaying before my very eyes...and Seiko...oh god Seiko...

I felt tears forming in the corners of my eyes as I turned to see Seiko sitting in one of the waiting room chairs, her elbow propped up on the windowsill with her head resting on her hand. Gazing out of the window the way she was, she had to have been in deep thought. It wasn't like her to be quiet.

Seiko...

I had murdered her, and I wasn't in my right mind when I had done it. Everything about that horrible place had got to me, and I went blank. Next thing I know, I open the third from left stall of the girl's lavatory, and I'm greeted with the horrific sight of the most important thing in my life hanging by a noose. She attempted to call out my name, but her low oxygen levels prevented her from doing so. I panicked on the spot, and by doing so, I didn't have enough time to save her life. Her lifeless body swung back and forth, as if it were mocking me. I remember screaming at the top of my lungs and spilling my tears.

And even after all of the things I said to her and did to her, she still forgave me. I didn't deserve her forgiveness at all. I was the one that should've died in there, not her. Seiko did nothing to deserve that hell. She had saved me from being taken over by the Darkening for the second time. The "No Hard Feelings" text had lit up my phone. Everytime I had bad thoughts and doubts of Seiko's death, I would be greeted with the same text: No Hard Feelings.

It was then that I had realized she had been with me the entire time even after her death. She was watching over me.

We escaped Heavenly Host, but we hadn't escaped the painful memories. They would be etched inside our heads until the day we die. But, the worst part would have to had been when no one remembered the ones who had lost their lives inside the cursed school. No one remembered Sakaturo Morishige, Mayu Suzomoto was long forgotten, Ms. Yui never taught at Kirisagi, and Seiko was just my imaginary friend. Everyone was wrong. Seiko did exist. Not one pill that the doctors prescribed to me could never make me forget her.

Two months had passed, and I was still grieving over Seiko and the rest of our friends. The class rep had caught me staring at Seiko's house after school one day, and she talked of investigating the Shinozaki estate that once belonged to Yoshie and Sachiko Shinozaki. That's when our second adventure started. Everything would be changed...again.

"What are you gonna do with her?" Ms. Yui asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"We will be assessing the severity of the coma by using the Glasgow coma scale, and we will be recording her brain activity. We may take a few blood samples as well, and maybe check her calcium, potassium, and other elemental compounds of the body. Ms. Shinozaki will be here for quite a while, but rest assured she's in good hands." The doctor gave a warm smile.

"What should we do until then?" Suzomoto had inquired, keeping a tight grip on the arm of Morishige.

"Go home and get some sleep. All of you. No disrespect intended, but you all look like you've seen better days." The doctor replied.

He was right. We were all tired from our second trip into Heavenly Host, and little Yuka was already fast asleep.

"How is your eye, Ms. Nakashima?" He and everyone else had turned their attention to me.

"Huh? Oh, it's..." I trailed off. "Not doing too good."

I touched the medical eye patch that he had given me during an earlier visit here. I guess the spells that Ayumi performed had affected the both of us, but it was a price to be paid.

"You'll just have to adjust to it. You will in due time," The doctor gave another warm smile. "How about the arm?"

I had cut my arm really deep when we were in Heavenly Host. Seiko had patched it up the best she could, but it needed to be stitched back together by a professional. So, while the class rep was getting admitted into a room by the staff, I was in the E.R. getting sewn up.

"Feels a little better." I said.

"That's good to hear. Now, go home all of you." said the doctor, starting down the hall.

"I'm staying with Shinozaki," Kishinuma crossed his arms at his chest. That was always the thing about him: When his mind was made up, you couldn't persuade him to change it.

"Yoshiki, you need rest," Ms. Yui put her hand on his shoulder.

"I can't rest if Shinozaki is in trouble," He said with concern and determination in his voice.

"Kishinuma, you need to sleep," Satoshi added. "We all do. We can all come see her in the morn-"

"No, Satoshi," Kishinuma interrupted calmly. "I'm staying here with her. She needs me, Mochida, just like I need her. Things between us have changed, and it's all the more reason to stay."

"What do you mean things have changed?" Satoshi questioned.

Kishinuma seemed hesitant to talk, then finally he spit it out. "She kissed me."

"What?!" I half shouted stumbling out of the seat I was sitting in.

Everyone looked equally shocked, except for Seiko, who had turned her attention away from the window to give the delinquent a "I knew you liked her!" smirk.

"When?" I asked, stumbling my way up to Kishinuma and putting my hands on his shoulders.

"Back in Heavenly Host, I confessed to her like you said I should, and she told me she had felt some feelings for me but she had no idea if they were positive or negative at the time." The blonde boy stated.

"That's great, Yoshiki!" I exclaimed, hugging him.

"I know." He hugged me back then when he realized that everyone in the waiting room was looking at us like we each had three ears, he quickly let go and ran a hand through his hair.

I knew Kishinuma was lying when he said he was just gonna let her go.

"That's so sweet!" Suzomoto had spoken up, causing Yoshiki to blush a bright red.

"Yeah, sure," Kishinuma casually said, then turned his attention to the doctor, who was discussing the class rep's stats with Ms. Yui. "Do you have an extra cot or a futon that I can sleep on tonight?"

"Yes we do, Mr. Kishinuma. Would you like me to get a nurse to prepare one for you?"

"Yes, please."

The doctor was on his way down the hall when Ms. Yui called back after him. "Make that two, doctor!"

The doctor nodded and continued his way down the hall.

"Ms. Yui?" Kishinuma asked.

"Well, you can't stay here by yourself, and I can't rest either knowing that one of my students is in trouble. Plus, I'm pretty sure Monet will be okay at home." Ms. Yui replied.

Kishinuma sighed, but nodded his head. "Okay then."

"Come on, Mayu. I'll walk you home," Morishige spoke, breaking the death grip that Suzomoto had on his arm. "We have things that we need to talk about."

"What kinds of things, Shig?" Mayu inquired, looking up at Morishige with what he considered "those beautiful green eyes".

"Us." He stated.

Mayu smiled along with the red tint that appeared on her face.

"Kishinuma? Ms. Yui? If you need anything, feel free to contact me right away." Morishige held up his phone.

Mayu grappled Morishige's arm in another death grip once again, and they disappeared down the hall.

"We need to be getting home, too." Satoshi stood up out of his chair with Yuka in his arms. The motion startled the girl, which caused her to snuggle into her older brother's neck.

I noticed the somewhat sad look in his eyes. I knew my decision had affected him greatly, but I knew Satoshi. He wouldn't let it upset him that much.

"Satoshi?" I asked.

"What's up, Naomi?" He replied.

"Are you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. What about you?"

I looked over at Seiko. She was staring right at me. She knew what my decision had been, too.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I broke my gaze from Seiko and looked up at Satoshi. "I'm sorry."

He raised an eyebrow. "What for? You haven't done anything wrong, Naomi. You were only following your heart."

"Yeah..." I looked over at Seiko again and smiled. "I was."

"Well, I'd best be getting this one home," He said. indicating to the sleeping Yuka. "I'll see you at school, Naomi. Goodbye, Ms. Yui. Later, Yoshiki."

"Be careful, Satoshi." Ms. Yui said.

"Later, man." said Yoshiki.

"See you, Satoshi." I quietly said as I watched him walk away.

He completely understood why I didn't choose him. He knew my heart didn't belong to him. It took a long time for me to realize it, but...my heart belonged to Seiko.

"Will you two be okay here?" I turned my attention to Kishinuma and Ms. Yui.

"We'll be fine, Nakashima. You and Shinohara need to go home and rest." Ms. Yui comfortingly told me.

"Can you call us in the morning? We're all worried about Ayumi." I asked Kishinuma.

The blonde boy nodded his head once.

"Thank you both. Let's go home, Seiko."

Seiko nodded her head and stood up, following me to the door.

"Oh, and Kishinuma?" I peered behind my shoulder at him.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

He seemed confused at what I was thanking him for, then he smiled in realization.

"And thank you, Nakashima."

I smiled and disappeared out the door with Seiko.


	2. The Walk Home (Naomi & Seiko)

We were walking home in silence. Seiko was being unusually quiet tonight. Why wasn't she being her cheerful self? She had acted like her old self when Ayumi had successfully resurrected her and the others, so why was she acting strange now? Was it because I chose her over Satoshi?

Well, whatever it was, the silence was killing me. "Seiko?"

"Hm?" She said, breaking out of her trance-like state.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Of course," She smiled. "How about you?"

"I'm okay." I smiled back.

I still had a hard time believing that my best friend was back. People wouldn't think I was crazy anymore. Oh how I had missed her. Her laugh. Her hair. Her perverted tendencies (I know that's hard to believe, but it's true). Her smile. Oh god her smile.

"You glad to be back?" I questioned again trying to avoid awkward silence.

"What do you think?" She asks flashing her toothy grin.

Next thing I knew, I felt a hand grab my butt.

"AHH! SEIKO COME ON NOW!" There was the Seiko I knew and loved.

"You know you missed that." She laughed.

I smiled. "I'm not gonna lie. I did."

"Ooooh, now who's the pervert?" Seiko giggled.

"Shut up!" I laughed, giving her a playful shove.

God, I had missed her so much.

Seiko looked up into the sky at the many stars that painted the night sky.

"Aren't the stars pretty tonight, Naomi?"

"They're beautiful." But it wasn't the stars I was looking at. Seiko's mouth hung open in amazement at all the stars in the sky. It was so cute how the simplest things had amused her. She was so beautiful...

"Look, Naomi! There's Sagittarius The Archer! That's your sign! And look over there! There's Capricornus The Sea-Goat! That's mine! And then there's Orion The Hunter right there!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, they're so pretty." I still wasn't paying attention to the constellations.

Seiko turned her attention from the constellations to me. "They are aren't they?"

I turned my head away quickly as a slight blush burned my face. "Yes."

There it was. The awkward silence once again.

This time Seiko was the one to break it. "Naomi?"

"Hm?"

"It's really all over isn't it?" Her demeanor changed once again from cheerful to quiet.

I sighed. "I think it's safe to say it is, Seiko."

"For real?" She asked.

"For real." I confirmed.

Another period of awkward silence.

Seiko went back into her trance-like state once again, looking down at the ground while we walked along the sidewalk. She was probably thinking about the same thing I was. The little moment we shared sometime after she was resurrected.

-Flashback-

I was sitting on one of the beds in the infirmary while Seiko hurriedly searched through the medicine cabinets for some banadages. I was clutching my badly bleeding arm.

When the class rep, Satoshi, Yuka, Kishinuma, and I had participated in the Sachiko Ever After charm a second time to enter Heavenly Host once again, we had discovered that Seiko's spirit had been overtaken by the Darkening, and attacked us whenever we tried to cross to the other side of the school. That had put more stress on Ayumi, as she had explained that Seiko would have to be rid of the Darkening in order for her to be resurrected, which had put more stress on all of us.

The thought of Seiko being a vengeful spirit had cut my heart into pieces. She was the type of person who would never hurt a fly. Then I remembered when I was possessed by the Darkening. I would never lay a hand on my best friend, but the dark forces of the school had driven me into hanging her. Something bad must've happened for her to become vengeful. Was she jealous? Grieving? Driven insane from the pain she would be feeling for all of eternity? I preferred not to think of any of that. Seiko's suffering alone shattered my heart even more.

It was then and there that I had decided to stop all the crying and "man up" as Kishinuma had said. Seiko needed me, and I was going to do all I could to help her be rid of that monster. The class rep had also mentioned something about "appeasing" a spirit. Kishinuma remembered that he and the class rep had appeased the spirits of the ghost children by giving their tongues back to them. That was when I remembered Seiko had her tongue cut out by Yoshikazu Yanagihori, and Satoshi, Yuka, and I had witnessed it. So we came up with a plan. Ayumi, Satoshi, Yuka, Morishige, and Suzomoto (who both had already been resurrected) would set up for the resurrection spell while Kishinuma and I would go in search of Seiko's tongue.

Eventually, after what felt like an eternity of searching, we found it inside a bucket in one of the hallways. We had returned to the others and found them being ambushed by Seiko's vengeful spirit. She had Satoshi levitating in mid-air, and sent him flying toward Kishinuma and I. Satoshi collided with us. Hard. So hard it that it had knocked the bag that contained Seiko's tongue right out of my hand. As soon as I recovered from the hard blow, I panicked about losing the only thing that could save my best friend. Satoshi reassured me that he and the others would look for the bag if Kishinuma and I would distract Seiko. We all agreed.

I looked across from me at the black mist that clouded Seiko. Kishinuma and I had began trying everything to distract her, even going as far as to try to fight her physically (Kishinuma's idea). Even me bringing up memories of our sleepover, walking home from school together, and going to the movies barely did anything to calm her spirit.

During the scuffle, I had fallen through a hole in the floor and caught myself on a loose board that also happened to pierce through my arm. I screamed in agony as Kishinuma pulled me up.

"You're bleeding. Bad." He said, trying help me apply pressure to the wound.

"Yeah, obviously." I coughed.

"Naomi! Yoshiki!"

Kishinuma and I looked over to see Satoshi waving the bag in the air.

"Throw it here!" Kishinuma shouted.

Satoshi hurled it with all his might and Kishinuma caught it.

"Here, Nakashima. See if you can get close enough to give it to her." He said as he put the bag in my hand.

I nodded my head at the boy, and started making my way toward Seiko. I stumbled as I went, clutching my injured arm and carrying the bag in my other hand. Seiko stared me down with those eyes that were once warm and loving now turned cold and cruel. It stung my heart just looking into them, but I had to do this. For her.

"Seiko Shinohara." I had spoken up in a stern tone.

No answer. Save for the evil stare that she was giving me.

"I have something of yours." I held up the bag.

Her evil look turned into a snarl as she darted toward me and tackled me to the ground. I felt her hands around my throat. She was choking me. No air. I couldn't breathe.

"Stop this, Seiko. You have no idea what you're doing." I said in a hoarse whisper.

"Oh, I do have an idea of what I'm doing. You remember when you strung me up like a Christmas ornament? I remember all too well. The pressure on your throat. Struggling for air. Knowing you're gonna die because of your so-called "best friend". Your trachea closing up on you..." She smiled evily.

It felt as if she was choking me harder with every word that she spoke. I started coughing uncontrollably.

She let out a wicked laugh. "Excruciating isn't it? Just think: the pain that you're feeling now doesn't even come close to the pain I felt in that godforsaken stall and what I'll be feeling for all eternity here."

Tears stung at my eyes. Not only from her words but from gasping for air. Then I remembered the bag I had in my hand.

"Seiko." I choked out as I undid the string on the bag.

She choked me harder, her nails digging into my skin. I coughed even more. Feeling like I was about to lose consciousness I deliriously held up the tongue in front of her. At that moment, the strangling stopped and I took the opportunity to inhale as much air as I could. Gaining focus back, I looked up at Seiko to see her staring at her tongue in her hand. She then crawled off of me and placed her tongue back inside her mouth. I sat up for better leverage to breathe in more air. That was when I saw Seiko's spirit gain her color back.

"You okay, Nakashima?" Kishinuma ran over to me and kneeled down beside me.

"Yeah I'm fine. Look, Kishinuma! It's working!" I shouted happily.

I heard the class rep chant the resurrection spell behind me as if on cue. The determination present in her voice. As she chanted the words, the black mist unraveled itself from Seiko's spirit, but at the same time Seiko's body was beginning to appear. Kishinuma had raised his arm up to protect his face from flying debris while I covered my face with my hands.

Pretty soon I heard a loud BANG and then a THUD. I uncovered my face, and saw the body of my best friend, Seiko Shinohara, lying there on the floor motionless. I got up and went to her side.

"Seiko?" I whispered, gently shaking her.

Still motionless.

"Seiko." Louder this time.

Finally, she opened her eyes. "Naomi?"

I released the flood gates that had built up in my eyes and clung to the curled haired girl. "Oh god Seiko!"

"Naomi!" Seiko returned my hug whole-heartedly, then low and behold she started crying as well. "I'm so sorry, Naomi!"

"No, I'm the one who should be apologizing, Seiko!" I sniffled. "I'm the one who killed you and got you stuck here!"

"I've already forgiven you for that, Naomi. You know that," She said, wiping the tears out of my eyes. "What happened to your eye?"

"Well-."

"Oh, god. You're bleeding!" Seiko cut me off, indicating to my wound.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. It's no big deal." I brushed it off.

"Oh yes it's a very big deal, Naomi! Come on, I gotta get you to the infirmary. Maybe we can find some supplies in there." Seiko quickly hopped up on her feet and started dragging me off to the infirmary.

I looked back at the others, whom all had questionable looks on their faces, and shrugged my shoulders.

"I found some rubbing alcohol, a small cloth, and some bandages." Seiko said, walking over to me with the supplies in her hands and the towel slung over her shoulder.

I quickly looked up from the floor that had became so interesting while I was occupied with my thoughts.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Seiko apologized, sitting next to me on the bed.

"Don't worry about it." said I.

"Hold out your arm, please?" She politely commanded.

I did what she asked and gasped at what I saw. There was a hole in my upper arm that looked to be the size of a baseball accompanied by the blood-stained tear in my uniform. It definitely needed stitches.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath.

"Now is it still not that big of a deal?" Seiko grinned, rolling up the sleeve of my uniform.

"I didn't get that good of a look at it before." I recalled.

She giggled and started preparing to treat my injury. I noticed the rubbing alcohol and cringed.

"Ugh, that stuff is gonna sting." I remarked.

"Don't be a baby, Naomi. It'll be over before you know it." Seiko smiled, dipping the cloth into the bottle.

"Alright." I said, closing my eyes tight bracing for the pain.

Seiko giggled again and rubbed my face with her hand gently. "Just relax."

The softness of her touch and the gentleness in her voice were enough to calm me down. Those were two of the many things I missed about her.

I took and big breath and exhaled. "Alright, I'm ready."

She took the damp cloth and slightly pressed against my wound as I let out a pained hiss.

"You're okay. You're okay." Seiko comforted, lightly brushing the cloth against it now.

I smiled at her comforting words, ignoring the sting. "You did this alot back home didn't you?"

She went silent for a minute. She had to have missed her home life and her siblings. I mentally slapped myself for bringing up the subject.

"I'm sor-"

"Don't be," She interrupted. "I did used to do this alot. The kids would always manage to scrape themselves while they were playing on something or another, and big sis was always there to make their boo-boos feel better."

Was. Not is. Was.

I saw the far away look in her eye as she tended to me. She did miss them. She was the mother figure to them when her mom had disappeared, but now since her existence was wiped off the face of the earth, Yuu had taken charge as he was the oldest now. They had no mother figure to look up to.

"Hey," I tilted her chin up with my hand so she could look me in the eye. "You will see them again, Seiko. Count on it. Class rep brought you and the others back to life, didn't she?"

She nodded her head as a tear traveled down her cheek.

"Then, believe me when I tell you: She'll get us back home. We've left this place once, and we'll do it again. This time we're bringing you, Suzomoto, Morishige, and Ms. Yui with us." I said with determination, wiping the tear off her cheek.

She smiled and before I knew it she had captured me in a hug. Her head just under my chin with her left ear placed over my heartbeat. I was shocked at the sudden gesture, thinking she had stuck her face in my chest. But, seeing as she hadn't gone nowhere near it, I hugged her back, and we stayed like that for a good five minutes.

"You're right. We will get out of here, and I will see Yuu, Kei, and Aya again. But, first I gotta finish taking care of my little Naomi's arm." She said, letting go and booping my nose.

"Okay." I smiled.

"I cleaned most of the blood off, and it's stopped bleeding for right now. We will have to take you to the hospital for stitches when we get out of here." She informed.

"Great." I said sarcastically.

Seiko giggled. "It'll be okay, Naomi. Plus, you'll have little ole' Seiko in there with you in the E.R. holding your hand while you get 'em."

"Promise?" I asked.

"Promise." She replied, brushing my bangs out of my face.

I felt a slight blush on my face. Seiko must've noticed too because she giggled.

"Why so red faced, Naomi?" She said, showing that signature kitty smile of hers.

I was certain that my blush was burning brighter now that I had known she noticed. "Seiko!"

"Relax, Naomi. I'm only teasing. Now, let's wrap you up, huh?" She patted my face and grabbed the bandages that were lying next to her.

"Alright." I held out my arm once more.

She stuck a pin in her mouth and brought the bandage up to my arm. She began wrapping it around my arm slowly. Seiko had asked me something, but I couldn't make it out because of the pin in her mouth.

"What?" I asked.

She paused her wrapping and took the pin out. "Does that hurt?"

"It feels fine." I assured her.

She stuck the pin back in her mouth and continued her work.

While she was doing that, I thought back to my conversation with Kishinuma earlier. In some way, he had helped me decide. I did like Satoshi, but when Seiko had died, it made me rethink those feelings. Seiko's death hurt so much, and it hurt not having her there beside me. Kishinuma had helped me realize that. That I was in love with Seiko. Not Satoshi.

"There. All done." She said, pinning the bandage together so it would hold. "How's it feel?"

I moved it around a little. "It's fine."

"Did pretty good, huh? I bet you're so proud." Seiko grinned.

I giggled. "I am."

We stayed there sitting on the bed of the informary not saying a word, until I spoke up.

"Hey, Seiko?"

"Hm?"

"I...well...see, I had this conversation with Kishinuma earlier about this thing, and well..." I hesitated.

"About what?" She inquired, looking at me with curious eyes.

"Well...you know how I like Satoshi, right?" I said.

Seiko's face seemed to sadden. "Yeah, I know."

"It's just that...I'm not so sure anymore." I confessed, rubbing my bandaged arm.

Seiko was silent, begging me to go on.

"See, when you died, it killed me inside. A part of me was brain-dead for the rest of the time we were here and the time I spent without you back home. Everyone thinks I'm insane now, and that you never existed. You're only my imaginary friend. I walk by your house everyday and see your brothers and your sister. They act like you never existed, Seiko, and it's not even their fault. It's mine." I felt tears forming in my eyes.

"Naomi..." Seiko started.

No. Hear me out, please?" I pleaded.

She nodded her head.

"I know I wasn't myself when I killed you, but I still feel awful for it. I let this school take hold of me because I was vulnerable after our fight. I never should've snapped at you like that, and I'm sorry. But, you forgave me for all of that. Even when I didn't deserve it. You've always had a big heart, Seiko, and that's one of the things I lo-." I stopped at the last part, tears falling down my face.

Seiko put her hand on my shoulder out of comfort. "It's okay. Go on."

"It's one of the things I love about you, Seiko. Kishinuma helped me realize that Satoshi is not the one I'm in love with..." I looked at the ground, sighed, and looked back up at her into her eyes. "It's you and it always has been. It just took me a while to realize that."

Seiko's mouth was agape. She looked like she had seen a ghost. I turned around to make sure there weren't any in here with us, then I turned back to her.

"You what?" She asked shocked.

"I guess I'm trying to say...I love you...as more than a friend." I said.

Her mouth went agape again, then it slowly turned into a smile.

"Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to hear those words?" She asked sincerely. "I love you, too. I've loved you for so long, Naomi. I've waited, and I've never grown tired of it. Now, I'm not gonna lie. You liking Satoshi hurt me. Alot."

I gasped. "It did? I didn't-" She put her index finger to my lips, shushing me.

"Shh. You didn't know about it because I didn't want you to know. If you had found out, then you probably would've tried to forget about him, and we both know you would've been miserable if that happened. I didn't care about how I felt, Naomi. I only cared about your happiness. It's all I've ever cared about."

I felt the tears coming. "Seiko."

I saw the tears in Seiko's eyes, too. "Naomi."

She slowly leaned in, and I found myself leaning in as well. Our lips brushed once. Twice. I pulled back a little so I could speak, but stayed very close to her face.

"Are you sure about-"

"Shut up." She cut me off by putting her lips to mine.

At that moment, everything exploded. Her lips were soft just like they were in that dream I had of her.

The dream. That was something I needed to talk to her about. Later, though. Not right now in the middle of the best moment of my life.

The kiss deepened. She wrapped her arms around my neck, and I had had wrapped mine around her waist. All at once, I felt Seiko's tongue attempt to gain access to my mouth. It had surprised me, which caused me to open my mouth. And when our tongues clashed, everything exploded again. She had adjusted herself to where she was sitting on her knees on the bed, her arms still wrapped around my neck. I had lost my balance and fell back on the bed, taking her with me. Our kiss was beginning to become more than that, and I had to stop it.

"Seiko." I spoke through the kiss.

She had somehow managed to straddle me with her legs without me realizing it. Yeah, this definitely needed to stop before it went too far.

"Seiko." I said again.

She stopped the kiss and raised up, sitting on my stomach panting heavily. "What? What is it?"

"We have to stop this. We can't do this here. Not in this godforsaken place." I said, reaching up to brush the hair out of her face.

She stared down at me with a disappointed look on her face.

"Listen, I know you've wanted this for a long time. I understand that, but we have more important things to do like getting out of this hellhole alive. And trust me, I want this to happen too. You can probably tell I do from where you're sitting." I giggled.

She giggled. "Yep," She reached around and patted my womanhood. "Like a waterfall."

I blushed a bright red and raised up with her sitting on my lap, her arms still clung to my neck. "Yeah, so we need to get back to the others...like now. We'll talk about everything else later."

She put her head directly under my chin. "Fine, but let me have a few more minutes like this with you."

I couldn't tell her no. I liked it like this, too. "Alright."

-End of Flashback-

Pretty soon, my hand had a mind of it's own and slowly crept toward Seiko's hand. I tried to stop it, but...I didn't want to. It just felt so right. As soon as I grabbed hold, I heard a small gasp come from her. I figured the gesture was unwanted at the time, so I let go. I knew I had an embarrassing blush lighting up my face, and I was very grateful that it was dark where Seiko wouldn't notice.

But, low and behold, my blush burned brighter as I felt Seiko grab my hand back.

"Naomi honey, if you wanted to hold hands all you had to do was ask." Seiko playfully said.

All I could let out was a barely audible "Yeah."

We walked in silence the rest of the way home, but it was a comfortable one for once.

We stopped in front of my house. I saw a light on inside. Mom was still up. I took my phone out and checked the time.

"It's 7:30. Of course she's still up," I scoffed. How was I gonna hide my eye from her? I could easily hide my arm, but my eye?

"What's wrong? Don't you wanna see her?" Seiko asked, squeezing my hand.

"I do, but I can't let her see this." I brushed my bangs away to reveal my eye patch.

Seiko nodded in understanding. I saw her turn her head around to look at the window that the light in my house was protruding from then she looked back at me. "Wait here."

"Where are you going?" I asked in a whisper.

"Just wait here." She whispered back.

I saw her carefully walk up the steps of the porch, careful not to make any noise. She walked over to the window and peeked in. She seemed to be scanning the living room for something. She must've found it because she ducked out of sight really quick, almost knocking over a wicker chair that was directly behind her. She quickly caught it before it hit the surface, then she looked over at me and released the breath that she was holding in the whole time during that small incident. Of course I couldn't help but snicker at her silliness.

Soon, she had made her way back down to me. "Did you see all of that?"

"Yes. Smooth move, Shinohara."

"Oh, please. It was cute and you know it."

"Totally."

She smiled and gave me a quick kiss.

"So what did you see in there?" I questioned, taking her hand in mine.

"Your mom is at the sink washing dishes. If you can sneak past her without being seen, I think you've got it." She explained.

I felt relieved that I wouldn't have to face my mother tonight. "You're the best."

"I know. But, in all seriousness, Naomi, you can't hide it forever. Not something that permanent. Your mom will find out sooner or later." Seiko said comfortingly, reaching up a hand to stroke my cheek.

"Yeah I know. Just not tonight. I've been through enough as it is. We all have."

"Speaking of which, are you ever gonna tell me what happened? That's worried me, Naomi."

I grimaced. I didn't want to worry Seiko, but I also didn't wanna tell her how I had lost vision in my left eye. Then again, Seiko deserved to know the truth. About everything.

"I'll tell you, but go see your family first. I know you've missed them, Seiko." I mentioned, looking over her shoulder at her house. There was a light on in there as well.

"Yeah, I'll pop in and see 'em for a bit. Give them their baths and tuck 'em in for bed. I've missed the little guys. But as soon as I'm done, I'm coming back over here because there is alot we have to talk about." She stated, the seriousness evident in her voice.

"Couldn't agree more." I replied with a smile.

Seiko smiled, gave me a quick peck on the lips, and began walking towards her house.

I, however, turned to face my house and stared at the door for what felt like an eternity. Seiko did say my mom was occupied at the sink, so maybe she wouldn't see me. If I could be really sneaky and not make noise, then maybe she wouldn't hear me.

Finally, I inhaled a big breath then sighed.

'Here goes nothing.' I thought to myself.

I quietly stepped up on the porch and reached for the door handle. Slowly turning it, the door opened and I quietly stepped inside. I remembered that the door had a loud squeak whenever you opened it, but luckily it didn't, even when I closed it. I peeked around the corner at my mom in the kitchen. She was occupied with washing and drying the dishes, oblivious to everything around her. Had she not noticed that I had been gone? Come to think of it, she hasn't really checked on me that much ever since I snapped at her that one time because she told me Seiko wasn't real. Had I really scared her that much? It didn't matter anymore, anyway. Class rep said that when the others were brought back to life, then things back home would go back to normal again. So, maybe she had forgotten all of that.

I quietly made my way to the stairs and carefully stepped up each one as to not make any noise that would alert my mother. I skipped the fifth step because it made a loud creaking noise once you stepped on it, and that would've ended it for me surely.

I finally made it to my room and shut the door, leaning on it and letting out a big breath that I just realized I had been holding in since I stepped foot inside the house. My room was still a mess where I had gotten angry at mom. Paper was strewn everywhere, magazines and books thrown onto the bed and into the floor. My desk was even turned over (Had no idea I turned into the Hulk). My bed sheets and covers were a mess where I had laid up in bed for the past 2 months, my pillow had been thrown at the closet door, clothes were scattered in the floor, and I gasped at the next thing I had laid eyes on.

There was a hole in the wall right next to my window. I walked over to it to inspect it. What could've happened? Did I throw something here? Did I punch the wall?

I looked at my knuckles on my right hand. They were perfectly fine. No bruise or scratch whatsoever. But to be sure, I balled it into a fist and stuck it into the hole. It fit perfectly.

"Whoa," I said aloud, removing my hand and looking over it. "I did that?"

I saw something out of the corner of my eye out the window that got my attention. I looked out to see through the window of the Shinohara household, and smiled at what I saw: Seiko's siblings had all piled on her while she laughed in utter joy. Seeing her so happy with her family like that made my heart melt. She did love them, and they loved her. I felt my smile grow bigger at the corners of my mouth.

'She has the biggest heart.' I thought to myself as I watched her play with her siblings.

I turned my attention from the heart-warming sight to the disaster in my room. I needed to clean this up before Seiko came over.

"If I start sooner, I'll finish sooner." I reasoned with myself.


	3. Everything Explained (Naomi & Seiko)

'Done. And thank god.' I thought to myself I plopped down on my bed, looking over my room a few times.

It took I'd say maybe twenty five minutes to clean everything up and put it back in it's rightful place. Of course, I had to at least take a shower beforehand so I could clean off the blood that had caked up around my upper arm, which before all of this Heavenly Host business would've disgusted me to no end, but now it feels normal to me. I also ended up throwing away my Kisaragi Academy winter uniform because there was no way in hell I could sew up a hole that big, nor could I scrub the blood off. And I sure as hell wasn't gonna get my mom to do either of those things for me.

I sit there on my bed, rubbing at the eye patch yet again. There was no way I was gonna adjust to being blind in one eye for the rest of my life. It was punishment for helping the class rep do black magic. It had to have been. Like she said, 'Doing this can cause extreme repercussions for the person or persons casting the spell.' and they were indeed some horrific repercussions. Ayumi lost her sister and I lost sight in my left eye.

"Hello, Mrs. Nakashima. Is Naomi around?" I heard Seiko downstairs.

"She should be in her room, Shinohara. Go up and see." My mom said.

"I'll journey up there and take a gander."

I smiled as I thought of the goofy expression on Seiko's face when she told that to my mom. Then I heard quick footsteps on the stairs and pretty soon Seiko burst through my door.

"Good evening, m'lady." Seiko grinned.

"Hi." I smirked.

"So what you up to tonight?" She asked, closing the door behind her.

"Not much," I answered in a nonchalant manner. "And you?"

"Nothing at all. Gave the kiddos their baths and put 'em to bed. Got bored as hell so I thought I'd come over and see my Naomi." She booped my nose and plopped down on the bed beside me.

"You did, huh?" I asked grinning.

"Sure did," She replied, taking hold of my hand. "After all, we have alot we gotta talk about, right?"

"Tons of stuff."

"Well what do you wanna talk about first?"

I studied Seiko's face. Her warm smile was contagious and soon enough it had spread to me, causing me to smile. I leaned over and captured her lips into a long kiss.

Seiko grinned, a light blush present on her face. "I thought all you wanted to do was talk."

"I do, but I at least wanna show my girl I love her." I smirked.

Seiko's blush grew darker, but she smirked back. "If you think this is gonna score you some brownie points with me, Nakashima, then you're wrong."

"Funny because I hear no objection." I leaned in and gave a few butterfly kisses to the crook of her neck. I felt her shudder.

"Since when did you become so forward?" Seiko asked in a far away tone.

"No idea. I guess Heavenly Host affected me in more ways than I thought." I retorted, pulling away from Seiko.

I could've sworn I heard Seiko give a sigh of disappointment, then she spoke. "It's affected all of us. Trust me."

Seiko's smile disappeared after that statement. I swallowed hard, immediately regretting my last sentence that came out of my mouth. But, Seiko had been right. I know she, Morishige, Suzomoto, and Ms. Yui had to have been absolutely traumatized after what they had been through. Then when you think about Satoshi, Yuka, Kishinuma, the class rep, and I, who had either witnessed their deaths or saw their lifeless corpse. That was traumatizing as well.

"Seiko." I began, looking down at the floor.

"Hm?"

"What was it like for you? The first time we went to Heavenly Host?"

Seiko had her eyes fixated on the wall across from my bed. I saw that far away look that she had earlier on our walk home. She stood up from the bed and walked over to my desk, lightly touching the surface of it. "It was a living hell, Naomi."

I stayed silent.

"I tried my best to stay optimistic. My absolute best. But, it was just so hard. So damn hard. I tried my best to keep your spirits up because I didn't want you to be scared. In reality, it was actually just a cover up to hide my own fear. And when I left you alone in the infirmary..." Seiko paused.

I saw a single tear fall down her cheek. Then, she balled her hand into a fist and slammed it down onto the desk. I flinched.

"I knew, Naomi! I knew in my gut that something was not right in that room! And I left you alone! All alone! But, I just had to ignore that and follow Yuka's voice! Then I hear your scream and the whole time I'm running back to you I'm thinking 'I never should have left her. I never should have left her.' Then I see you out in the hall and how terrified you were! And you got angry with me! I didn't blame you for it, Naomi! Not one bit! And I still don't!"

Tears were falling from Seiko's eyes, now. As she leaned forward on my desk and sobbed. I, on the other hand, was at loss for words. All I could do was stare at her with an open-mouth.

"I know I made a decision that we should split up. I told you it was a chance for you to clear your head, but it was also for my own selfish reasons, Naomi. I couldn't face you when you were mad like that. It made me feel even worse about my failure. My failure to protect you."

"Seiko..." I finally spoke.

"No. Let me finish. Please?" She asked, not looking at me.

I nodded. "Okay."

"I was walking through the halls. Thinking about how I had failed you and myself. That was when I heard your voice. Your sweet, angelic, absolutely beautiful voice. I saw you walking towards me and I thought you had come to apologize. I hugged you like crazy...but you didn't hug me back. That's when I knew something wasn't right with you. Then I looked into your eyes. That was the biggest clue, Naomi. Your eyes are beautiful, I mean that, but your eyes at that time...were so dark and cold. You dragged me off to the girls lavatory against my will, and you had picked up a noose that was lying in the floor. I remember standing on a bucket while you tied the noose around my neck, and then you kicked it out from under me. All I remember is gasping for air. My throat felt so constricted, and I could feel the rope give me a burn on the skin of my neck. Then you took of running and I was left there to die like that. The whole time I tried to breathe, I thought of how that couldn't have been you. You would never do anything to hurt me, Naomi. I knew that. I had forgotten how long I had been without air and I felt like I was almost dead, then you show up again. This time you were back to your old self. I was so happy to see you. I tried to apologize, but I couldn't because my windpipe was closed. But, I saw the panic on your face, Naomi. You panicked so much, you couldn't think straight enough to save me. It hurt to see you like that. That's when fate caught up with me. It wasn't meant for me to be saved. I died."

I had tears streaming down my face now. Now I knew what it felt like from her point of view. She blamed herself for her own demise. Not me.

"Seiko, there was nothing you could possibly do to fail me. You're not a failure to me. You kept a smile on your face just to keep me from being afraid. That was the best thing you could have ever done for me. And you said that it was all a cover up just to mask your own fear? Seiko, you're human. You're not the only one who has done that. Look at Kishinuma. He was afraid, and he kept it hidden by acting like a tough guy. And he did it all for the sake of keeping the class rep safe." I explained, keeping a steady gaze on the side of Seiko's face.

She kept quiet, looking down at the desk.

"And you're right. I wasn't myself when I did that to you. I was being a whiny little brat like I always do when I'm in a stressful situation. The school took that opportunity to possess me in my vulnerability. The rest is blank after that. I remember waking up in the stairwell and going to the girls lavatory. I opened the stall..." I let out a loud sob. "And you were there! Struggling for air and I just stood there staring at you like some sort of circus freak! You were dying right in front of my eyes and I was frozen in place! And you tried to apologize to me when you didn't even do anything to begin with! Then, it was too late for me to act. You were gone. That was when I lost my mind and broke down."

Seiko stared at the wall in front of her and taking a glance at me, she said, "I know you did, Naomi. I was there with you from the second I left my body."

I looked up at Seiko, who was staring directly at me. I stared directly into her eyes as well. In a way, I had known she had been there, but I also felt a little skeptical about it. "You were weren't you?"

"Yes. I was there when you said that you couldn't make it on your own. You heard me speak to you in your heart and mind. You're a tough cookie. You didn't think you were, but I did. It takes alot to go on after something that tragic." Seiko stopped leaning on the desk, and instead turned around to sit on the surface.

I thought about what she was talking about. I had broken down crying in the stairwell and I remembered in my head that she had called me a tough cookie. So, that wasn't a memory? She said she spoke to me in my heart and mind. No, it wasn't a memory. She really was there.

"I remember that." I said, standing up from the bed and walking toward her.

"And the time when you saw the tape of the murder. I felt your guilt, Naomi. You were hard on yourself for it. That's when the Darkening interfered, and tried to take you over again. But, I couldn't let it. Not again. I couldn't speak to you through words, but I could through signs. The text that I was going to send to you to apologize for our fight. I knew that would get to you. Everytime I sent it, you thought I was mad at you, but then you finally figured it out. I forgave you for everything because in my heart I knew it wasn't you. I saved you, Naomi. That was enough for me." She went on to explain, while looking down at the floor.

I wiped the tears out of my eyes with my hand, and leaned over to kiss her on the forehead.

"Look at me, Seiko," I chided, tilting her chin up to look me in the eye. "Thank you for saving me."

Seiko smiled. "You're welcome."

"But, there's something I still don't understand." I scratched the back of my head.

"And what's that?" Seiko inquired, crossing her arms against her chest.

"Why did you forgive me?" I asked.

Seiko leaned back against the wall, her arms still crossed. "I had to. I told you before. I knew that wasn't you when you killed me. You would never do anything to hurt me. We have been best friends for as long as I can remember, Naomi. If you were going to kill me, then I'd say you would've already done it years ago, right?" She giggled, trying to add comedic relief to our serious conversation.

"Don't joke about that." I said in a slightly angry tone.

Seiko's comic demeanor reverted back into seriousness. "Oh, yeah. I forgot. Sorry."

Awkward silence.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" I asked.

"Hm?"

"What did it feel like?"

"What did what feel like?"

I hesitated to go on with the subject, but I wanted to know. "The suffering."

Seiko seemed to flinch at the memories. I hated bringing them back up, but there was so much I needed to know. She stood up from the desk and went back to sit on the bed. She stared at the floor for the longest time, then the stare drifted up to me.

She finally spoke in a quiet voice, almost a whisper. "It hurt. Alot."

I felt bad for her. I know she had been through hell and back with her pain. It had to have been excruciating for her. Just the thought of it made my throat ache.

She continued. "My throat would burn. It felt like someone had lit a whole pack of matches and made me swallow them one by one. Whenever it wasn't burning, it would feel like it were closing up on me. I would try desperately to breathe, but I couldn't. After a while, you got used to the pain. Sometimes, it would go numb where I was so used to it. That was the best part about it."

I saw her look towards the window in my room and her eyes-widen. I followed her gaze to the hole in my wall. I would have to find something to cover that up with in the morning.

"Geez, Naomi! What the hell did you do?" Seiko asked, getting up from the bed. She walked over and bent down to inspect the hole.

"Oh, that?" I cleared my throat. "Long story."

"I'm in the mood for story time." Seiko retorted, still inspecting the hole.

"I, uh...sort of...maybe...punched the wall." I said in a quiet tone.

Seiko looked at me. Her jaw dropped to the floor, but you could still see the hint of a smirk forming on her face. "Nuh uh."

"Yeah huh." I replied, crossing my arms at my chest.

Seiko turned to look at the hole again and whistled in amazement. "We're going to enter you in one of those fighting competitions one day! You know the ones where they have that octagon-looking ring? Your nickname would be Right Hook!"

I giggled at her silliness. "Seiko."

She then proceeded to pretend that she was holding a microphone in her hand. "And in the blue corner! Fighting out of Japan! She stands at 5'2" tall! Weighing in at 102 pounds! Naomi "Right Hook" Nakashimaaa-"

I quickly clamped my hand over her mouth. "Keep your voice down! You wanna wake up the whole neighborhood?"

"Relax, Naomi. It's not that late," She took out her phone and checked the time. Her eyes widened at the screen. "9:30. Holy shit, I guess it is."

I gave her a "Duh!" look and she playfully punched my good arm.

"You're so mean to me!" She playfully chided.

"No I'm not and you know it." I stuck my tongue out at her.

"You're right. You've always been good to me, Nakashima." She said with a warm smile.

I returned the affectionate gesture and cleared my throat. There was more we needed to talk about. "So about that story?"

Seiko blinked in realization. "Oh yeah!" She took a running jump to the bed and sat Indian style like an eager kid. "Let's hear how you punched a hole in your wall, Right Hook!"

I playfully rolled my eyes at the curled haired girl and pulled out the chair from the desk and set it directly in front of Seiko.

"It's not exactly a happy story." I explained.

Her happy expression changed yet again. "Yeah. I figured as much."

"You and the others had been gone for about two months. No one remembered any of you. Even in pictures there was a black hole where your faces used to be. Everyone thought we were crazy. Especially me." I went on.

She was listening and looking at me with intent eyes. I had her full attention.

"Mom even thought I was a lunatic. I lost count of how many doctors and shrinks she had taken me to and how many pills I was taking per day. It was so bad. I would talk about you to her and she would have no clue as to who you were. She'd ask me "Who's Seiko? Who's Seiko? Who's Seiko?" whenever I brought your name up. The doctors told her that you were my imaginary friend. But you know what? I refused to believe it, Seiko. Because I knew in my heart that you were real. I couldn't make up something like that in my own head. Then one day she came in my room and talked to me about not going to school that day so that I could spend the day with her. Of course, your name came up and once again she told me you weren't real. I remember being so upset and just so...angry. I threw whatever I could get my hands on at her. Books, paper, magazines, stuff like that. I guess during all that I flipped over my desk and punched a hole in the wall. Didn't know I'd go that far. Anyway, I made mom cry and that was the last time we've spoken directly."

Seiko was silent as she took this all in. She looked over toward the window in deep thought. It had to hurt just thinking of being forgotten by the world. How whenever someone mentions your name and the person they're talking to hasn't the slightest clue as to who you're talking about. Seiko wasn't the type of person someone could forget. She had too much of a flashy personality.

"Anyway," I continued. "I remember being depressed every single day. I distanced myself from Kishinuma and the others, so I could be by myself for a while. I'd lay up in bed or I'd go out somewhere at night so I could see the stars. And in a way, Seiko, when I looked at the stars, I felt closer to you."

She broke her gaze from the window and looked at me, a smile growing on her face.

"I guess it was because I knew how you loved the stars. How you would always point out the constellations in the sky, sort of like the way you did earlier. Looking at the sky those nights without you had put alot of thoughts in my head." I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.

"What kind of thoughts?" Seiko spoke up.

"About you and Satoshi. Beginning to be torn between the two of you."

"Oh."

"And there was a dream I had of yo-"

"I know, Naomi," Seiko interrupted. "I was the one who gave it to you."

My eyes snapped open and I immediately looked at the girl, whom had layed down on the bed and clasped her hands behind her head. "You did what?"

"I'm the one who gave you the dream. I influenced your thoughts, Naomi."

"Wh-"

"And before you make it sound like I did a bad thing, let me tell you it wasn't. I needed to have closure. And to have that closure, all I needed was a kiss from the girl I was in love with all those years." Seiko seemed content as she spoke.

"Seiko..." I started.

"That was all I needed. But I still felt it was my duty to protect you while you were there. I spoke to Mochida before that, too. Told him I wasn't able to keep you safe anymore, and that he should be the one to do that now."

I leaned up in my chair and ran a hand through my hair. She amazed me to no end.

"Seiko, I didn't need to have Satoshi watching over me like that. He could never have taken your place. Never." I stated firmly.

"I know that, but I needed his assurance that he would at least keep an eye on you every once in a while. I know how you can be sometimes, Naomi." She says.

I was about to protest her last statement, but she had a point. She was talking about my whiny attitude. It could get me into trouble alot, plus it had hurt Seiko's feelings, too, so that was another thing to think about.

She let out a small laugh. "Besides, I don't know if that was the best idea I ever had."

Now I was even more curious. "Why?"

"After all that happened and you guys left, I began to have these thoughts about you and Mochida. Both of you getting married and having kids. Possibly forgetting me. And to top it all off, the grief of missing you got to me and the pain from the burn got to me as well. The school took hold of me, Naomi. The Darkening got inside my head. It all made me jealous."

So that was it. Those were the reasons she became vengeful. That's why she tried hurting us. She threw Satoshi through the air towards us out of spite for him. She choked me because she thought that I had forgotten her. I would never forget her. She knew that. The school just got inside her head to make her think that. I sighed as bent over in the chair, covering my face with both of my hands.

"And you know I don't remember anything else much after it got me? I just remember waking up and seeing you and your arm. I must've had something to do with that, huh?" She questioned as she raised up from the bed to sit upright.

I moved my hands to massage my temples. "Not exactly. That was my fault. Fell right through the floor."

Seiko snickered once then immediately stopped when she remembered how big the gash in my arm was.

"Sorry," She apologized. "What's it look like now?"

I rolled up my shirt sleeve to see. The doctor had stitched it up very carefully. I think he said he had stitched it fifteen times. It was a little swollen, and it was a little red, but nothing serious. It would bruise in the morning.

She let out a pained hiss. "Looks uncomfortable."

I shook my head as I rolled my sleeve back down. "Not really. Not even when he was sewing me up. The only time it was uncomfortable was when I had the damned board jammed in it."

Seiko giggled. "I can only imagine what that must've felt like. What are you going to do with your uniform?"

"I threw it away." I pointed to the trash can.

"What? Why did you do that?" Seiko asked, getting up to go over to it.

"I can't sew, nor am I gonna try to scrub off the pint of my blood that's on it. I ain't letting mom know about it either because she'll be on my case." said I.

She picked it out of the trash and inspected the blood-stained tear. "Hm. I can probably get it out. It might take a few tries, but I can do it. I'll sew it up for you, too. I'm used to this kind of thing with Yuu's soccer uniform. Well, minus the blood, of course. Usually it's a really tough grass stain or dirt."

"Thanks, Seiko. If it's no trouble, I'd appreciate it." I smiled.

"No trouble at all, m'lady." She said, folding the uniform up and setting it on the dresser.

I rubbed at my eye patch. It was getting kind of itchy. I needed to take it off, but I didn't wanna look at it. I remembered that Seiko wanted to see it, and I know that she did deserve the truth about it. Another part of me wanted to keep it hidden from her. It had to have been the ugliest thing anyone has ever seen. I didn't want her seeing that side of me. But I had no choice.

"Hey, Seiko?"

Mhm?"

"You wanna see this?"

"Yeah, I do. You've worried me with it."

She walked over to me and sat in my lap, taking me by surprise. Normally this was one of the times when she would giggle like an idiot, but strangely she didn't this time. She just kept a steady gaze on me. I swallowed a lump in my throat, sticking my finger into the band that was holding the eye patch to me. I slightly gasped as I felt Seiko carefully begin to help me remove it. When it was off, I had closed my eye to keep her from seeing it. Then I felt her grab my hand, reassuringly.

"It's ok," She whispered. "Show me."

I slowly opened my eye. I heard her give a quiet gasp. She had to have been disgusted by it. It was truely an ugly thing to see. My blood vessels were busted all to hell and a bronze "S" had been emblazened on my pupil. I looked down at the floor in shame but she put my hand on my cheek and slowly brought me up to meet her gaze.

"What happened?" She asked, softly.

I swallowed hard again. "The class rep and I had tried to perform a black magic spell from the Book of Shadows without knowing the consequences. She lost her sister because of it, and I lost sight in this eye."

Seiko gasped again. "Naomi..."

I sighed. "I know. It's a gross thing to see isn't it?"

I looked up at her expecting a disgusted expression to be on her face. She only shook her head slowly.

"It's not gross, Naomi. There's nothing about you that's gross or ugly to me. You're still as beautiful as the day I met you." She spoke.

I felt a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. She cared for me alot. I still feel awful for not seeing how obviously affectionate she was towards me. She had to have waited a really long time for this. I wasn't doing this out of sympathy for the girl. No. She was my best friend, and I finally realized I had loved her all along.

"Seiko. You have no idea how much that means to me."

We layed our forheads together. At that very moment, there was nothing in the world that mattered to me. Only Seiko. I closed my eyes and basked in the moment.

"Hey, Naomi?"

"Hm?"

"What about the decision between Satoshi and me?"

"What about it?"

"Well, I know it must have been hard to make a decision like that. You had your doubts about the both of us, but what helped you decide?"

"Oh." I said in realization. Then for a brief moment, I flashbacked to the conversation between Kishinuma and I when we searched for Seiko's tongue.


	4. Everything Explained Pt. 2 and Naomi's Dream (Naomi & Seiko)

-Flashback-

"Psst. Nakashima?"

I had crawled up under a table located inside the entrance of Heavenly Host Elementary School. The foul odor of a decaying corpse stung my nostrils, making me retch like crazy. I figured I should've been used to it by now, but I was wrong.

"Pssssst. Nakashima?"

Kishinuma and I were looking for Seiko's tongue, hoping it would appease her vengeful spirit. The class rep had concocted a plan to ressurect Seiko, which was proving to be rather difficult for all of us. I had volunteered to go out in search of the tongue and that I would go myself if I had to, but the class rep insisted that I take Kishinuma along with me. So here we were.

"Psssssssssst. Hey, Nakashima?!"

"Huh?! Ow!" The sound of Kishinuma's voice startled me and I hit my under the table. I crawled out, rubbing the top of my head. "What?!"

Kishinuma had been holding the flashlight under the table for me so I could conduct a thorough search. "I was just going to ask you if you had found anything, yet."

I was so frustrated. We had searched everywhere around this school and had yet to find the one thing that could appease Seiko. I was beginning to just give up.

I let out a frustrated sigh. "No, Kishinuma. I. Have. Not. Found. Anything! For the hundredth time!"

He held up his hands in defense. "Whoa. I didn't mean to strike a nerve there, Nakashima. I was just asking."

"Yeah? Well, don't ask anymore. It's not here." I declared, standing up to brush off my skirt.

His face fell. "No..."

I sighed out of frustration. "I'm afraid so."

I walked out of the entrance and into the hallway. Kishinuma followed closely behind me.

"We have to look again." He said, his 'Never Say Never' attitude showing.

I abruptly stopped and turned around to face him. I knew I had to have had an angry look on my face. "Why, Kishinuma?! Why should we look around this godforsaken school again?! It's obviously not here or else we would've found it!"

Kishinuma flinched at my words. I knew it was a bad thing to take out your anger and frustrations on other people, but right now I didn't care. It was looking hopeless for Seiko. Her tongue was nowhere to be found. I felt like I had failed her not only as a friend, but in general.

"We've looked everywhere! Every classroom, lavatory, hallway, and stairwell! It's not here! There is no hope of bringing her back!" I shouted, tears starting to stream down my face. I fell back against the wall in full force and slid all the way down to the floor, clutching my knees.

I sobbed like I had never sobbed before. Seiko was never gonna come back. Of course it had all been my fault from the start. If I hadn't did what I had done on our first trip here, she'd be okay. No, scratch that. If the class rep hadn't found the damned charm on that blog, then we wouldn't have been here at all! No, I had to calm down. It wasn't Ayumi's fault. She had no idea we would get sent here. She just thought it was something that would keep all of us friends forever.

"Seiko." I sobbed. "Seiko."

Kishinuma had a sympathetic look on his face. He looked to his left then to his right to see if there was anyone around. When he realized the coast was clear, he slid down into the floor beside me. I could feel his hesitation, but he overcame it and gave me the awkwardest hug you could ever imagine. Obviously he wasn't much of a hugger. It's funny to me because the whole time we've been here, he would give the class rep a reassuring hug whenever she felt like giving up. He wouldn't care if Satoshi, Yuka, and I were watching them, which was unlike Kishinuma. It was almost as if there was something there between the two of them. I remember Satoshi asking me that very question to which I didn't know the answer to.

"It's...it's gonna be okay, Nakashima. We'll find it. We'll just have to look again whether we like it or not. It's gotta be here because I don't think anyone would take it and keep it as a souvenir. Who in their right mind would want to be reminded of this place?" Kishinuma comforted, patting my back reassuringly.

I sobbed into the hug. "We've got to get her back, Kishinuma! We just gotta! I can't go on without her! She's everything to me! If she doesn't come back with us, then I'm staying here with her!"

"Have you gone mad, Nakashima?! You can't stay here! You'll die! And you know damn well that that...THING...in there is not Shinohara! She's flipped her lid from being stuck here for so long and she's so far gone in her madness now! That's why we have to look again! We all want her back! You especially, Nakashima!" He reasoned.

I stopped sobbing for a minute and though it over. Kishinuma was right. We did need to keep looking. It's here somewhere. I couldn't let Seiko down. We had to. One more time.

I sniffled, wiping my nose on my sleeve. "You're right. We have to. Just give me a few minutes to get myself together."

"Fine." He said, getting up from the floor.

A few moments later...

We were inside classroom 2-A searching all the desks, chairs, the floor, everything that was capable of hiding something. Kishinuma was across the room searching the desks on the left and I was on the right.

"Found anything?" He half-shouted across the room.

"Nope! Have you?"

"Goose egg."

"Damn." I rubbed my eyes out of frustration. We had only two rooms left: The science lab and the infirmary. If we didn't find anything in those two rooms then that was it. Seiko would be done for. I prefered not to think about it.

Kishinuma and I shined our flashlights out into the hallway and proceeded to walk down it. There was silence between us until Kishinuma broke it.

"Nakashima?"

"Hm?"

"Can I tell you something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

The boy seemed to hesitate about what he was trying to tell me, then he quietly whispered it. "I sort of...might be in love...with Shinozaki...I think."

I quickly stopped and put my arm out in front of him to stop him from walking ahead of me. "Whoa. You what now?"

He scratched the back of his head before speaking again. "I'm in love with Shinozaki."

I stared at him, awestruck. I knew it. Seiko had knew it, too. She mentioned a few months ago when we were at lunch that you could feel the sexual tension in the air when he and the class rep argued about the reek of cigarette smoke that eminated from the delinquent's jacket. Which had ended in a huff as the class rep stormed out of the cafeteria. I couldn't understand why he was in love with her when she treated him like a sack of shit.

"That's great, but why?" I asked.

He seemed to take that very question in deep thought as we continued walking down the hallway, carefully dodging the holes in the floor. Then he spoke up.

"Because she's so beautiful. She's smart. She's different from the other girls. And she defended me when the P.E. coach caught me in the bathroom with a cigarette. Ever since that day, she's been in my thoughts. Can't really explain it. The heart wants what the heart wants I guess." He said in a far away tone.

I never thought Kishinuma would be the one to say sweet things like that, especially about the class rep. But, I did think about what he just said. Here lately I had felt this tugging at my heart between Satoshi and strangely enough Seiko. I had only thought of Seiko as a friend before any of this, but now that she's gone, I've never been so depressed in my life. Satoshi didn't even make me feel better either. In fact I felt worse when he was around, and I had no idea why. I guess it was a reminder of what I had lost.

"Why don't you tell her that, Kishinuma?" I inquired.

"Are you crazy? She doesn't like me in that way, Nakashima. It's obvious." He replied, stuffing his free hand in his pocket.

"You don't know that. People hide their feelings in different ways. There's always a chance for everything."

"I guess that's true," He went silent for a minute then stopped walking and put a hand on my shoulder, stopping me from walking as well. "Nakashima...you're a girl..."

I had to be giving him the dumbest look ever.

"No." I reply sarcastically.

"Shut up! That's not what I meant. What I mean is: You're a girl and you usually have some good advice about these things, so what do you think I should do?"

I opened my mouth to say something, then I closed it quickly. The boy was asking me for love advice? Hell, I couldn't even figure out my own love problems! My whole mind had been clouded with Satoshi and Seiko both. That was my biggest problem right now: Satoshi or Seiko? But, I did have to say something to him at least.

"Well, in my opinion, I think you need to tell her your feelings, but it's up to you to decide what you wanna do." Was the only advice I could give him.

"Hmmm." He said, thinking out loud. "It would probably be the best idea wouldn't it?"

"Do you think it is?" I asked.

He looked me in the eyes and spoke. "Yeah, I do."

I smiled. "There you go."

We started walking down the hallway once again. Now that Kishinuma and I had decided on what he should do with his feelings toward the class rep, it had got me to thinking the very same question that has been in my head for a while now: Satoshi Mochida or Seiko Shinohara? Who was I really in love with? I gave an exasperated sigh, and Kishinuma must've heard it because we stopped walking once again. At this rate, Seiko was never gonna get her life back.

"Alright. What's up?" He asked, shining the flaslight in my face like a detective would do when interrogating a suspect.

"Ow! Please don't do that." I politelty chided, rubbing my eyes.

"Oh, sorry," He apologized as he pointed the light onto the floor of the hall. "What's going on, Nakashima?"

"What do you mean?" I questioned. But, I knew exactly what he meant. He knew something was troubling me.

"Something's bothering you. I can tell it in your face."

I sighed. "Yeah, Kishinuma, something is bothering me."

"Talk to me, kid."

I guess it wouldn't hurt to let him know what was going on inside my head. After all, he did let me know what he thought about Ayumi. Maybe he had some advice for me. Hold up a minute! I was asking Yoshiki Kishinuma. He was the last person who would know what to do in a situation like this. But, I was desperate.

"Well...see I've been thinking. Alot. About...things." I started.

"What things?" Kishinuma inquired.

"Satoshi. I do like him...alot actually, but see things have happened that have made me rethink him. When Seiko died, I was devastated, you know, like anyone would be when their best friend passed away, but I think it's affected me in more ways than it should've, Kishinuma."

"How so?"

"Well...I find myself always thinking about her. I get absolutely angry whenever I'd tell people about her and they would have no idea who she was. It made me look like a lunatic, but I didn't give a flying shit. Even at school, I couldn't pay attention in class because she was always in my thoughts. You could see the change in my grades. And when we were here the first time, I had a dream about her...and I kissed her in it."

Kishinuma's eyes widened at my last statement. "Really?"

"Yes. Now, I'm beginning to wonder...if I'm in love with Seiko."

"Ah." He said. "So I guess you're torn between the two of them, huh?"

"Exactly." I reply.

"And you have no idea who you want."

"Not one."

Kishinuma seemed to be thinking this over. I was desperate for answers here. I wanted to be with Satoshi, but then again...Seiko was my best friend...and I began to wonder if it was more than that.

"Well," Kishinuma sighed. "God, I wish I knew more about this love crap."

My heart sank. He had no idea either. He must've noticed my glum expression.

"Hey, kid, don't be sad on me now. I actually think I might sort of know what you need to do."

I kept quiet so I could listen to what he had to say.

"Now, I've never talked about love and relationship problems. You're the first I've talked to about these types of things, Nakashima. You should feel proud about that," He laughed. "But in all seriousness, let's assess this. Who have you known the longest? Mochida or Shinohara?"

I didn't even have to think to answer that question. "Seiko."

"Who have you always turned to whenever you had a problem?"

"Seiko."

"Who are you most comfortable around?"

"Seiko."

"Who has always been there for you since day one?"

"Seiko."

"If you had to save one of them from a burning building, who would it be?"

I gasped. "What kind of question is that?"

"Just answer it."

"...Sorry Satoshi, but I guess I'd have to save Seiko."

"Who do you see yourself spending the rest of your life with? The one person you don't pick never speaks to you again."

Where the hell was he coming up with all these insane questions? "I can't imagine my life without Seiko in it...so I guess Seiko."

"Pencils down, Nakashima. Let's see. Shinohara six. Mochida zero. I think you know exactly who you want if you ask me." He winked.

I gave a slight gasp. He was right. I hadn't answered Satoshi for any of those questions. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed accurate. Seiko was always there for me, even when we were kids. She was one of the few people I was comfortable around. Yeah, I know, she could be a bit "touchy feely" at times, but that was just her. That's what made her special. Her just being her, and she wasn't afraid of being herself. Of course I would save her from a burning building. I know she would do the same for me. Come to think of it...I've always thought of Seiko as more than a friend. It dawned on me. I was just forcing myself to like Satoshi for the sake of Seiko and I staying friends. I was afraid that if she and I became more than that, I would lose her. But, I knew Seiko. She'd never leave me. And by god I'd never leave her.

"Just follow your heart." I heard him say.

I smiled. "I have, Kishinuma. It's Seiko. It's always been her. I just needed a reality check. Satoshi is a nice guy, but he's not the one for me."

"There we go, kid," Kishinuma said, ruffling my hair. "Now if you can use that to feed your motivation, then we will find Shinohara's tongue."

"Alright. Let's do it!" I said with determination and a smile on my face. "Lead on, Kishinuma!"

"Sure thing, Nakashi- oh shit!" Kishinuma cursed as he tripped over a bucket that was lying in the middle of the hallway. "What the fuck?"

"Are you okay?" I asked, kneeling in the floor to check on him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied, rubbing his shin.

"Huh.." I shined the light on the bucket. "I don't remember that being in the middle of the hall."

"Neither do I." Kishinuma proceeded to scoot himself over to the bucket. His jaw dropped when he looked inside. "Nakashima..."

"What's wrong?" I shined the light at him.

I watched the blonde boy reach into the bucket and pull out a small black bag. He threw the bucket aside and undid the string on the bag. He then reached inside and pulled out a small pink object. A tongue.

I gasped. "I-i-is that what I think it is?"

Kishinuma nodded his head. "This has gotta be Shinohara's." I watched him quickly place the object back inside the bag and tie it back. "Let's go, Nakashima! We give this back and Shinozaki does the spell, you'll have your girl back!"

We both scrambled to our feet and sprinted back up the hall.

'We're coming, Seiko! We're gonna save you! Then you can come back home with us...with me.' I thought to myself, smiling.

-End of Flashback-

"Kishinuma had helped me decide, Seiko." I said, looking at the curled haired girl, whom was still seated in my lap.

"Kishinuma, huh? I didn't think he'd really like a subject like that, him being a lone wolf and all. But, I always had a feeling that he had a little thing for Shinozaki. I saw the little google-eyed stares he'd give her during class and all the paper airplanes he'd make to throw at her just to make her mad. It was too cute." says Seiko.

"Yeah, I saw that, too." I giggled. "And Ms. Yui would keep him after class to clean up his mess."

She giggled back. "Hot damn! I just remembered, Morishige owes me $20!"

"What for?" I asked.

"We had a bet. I betted that he'd tell her, eventually, and Morishige betted that he would run scared and not do it. Who was right? I was!" She said pointing at herself with both of her thumbs.

"I think I might've influenced the bet a little, huh?" I laughed a little, remembering that I was the one who told Yoshiki to do what he wanted.

"Maybe just a little, buuuuut we don't tell Morishige, anything. Nothing, zero, nada, donut! Sound good?" She said, winking at me.

"Alright," I yawned.

"Good girl." Seiko kissed my forehead and stood up from my lap.

I watched her walk over to the digital alarm clock and pick it up to look at the time.

"Oh my god," Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "It's 12:00."

She set the clock down and proceeded to walk over to the dresser to pick up my bloody uniform, tucking it under her arm. "I should go."

My face fell. I didn't want her to go, but I also didn't wanna be selfish. If she wanted to go then she could go. Who was I to stop her? But, I had missed her so much. I didn't want her to leave. Regardless of how selfish I was being.

"Don't go." I pleaded.

She had barely opened the door when I spoke up. She closed it and turned back around and leaned on the door. I saw a slight smirk beginning to show. "I don't have any pajamas."

I smirked back at her. I got up from the chair and set it back in front of the desk. I proceeded over to my drawer and pull out a blue set of pajamas and threw them at her. "There."

She dropped my uniform out from under her arm, so she could catch them. "Alright. I'll be right back."

She opened the door and quietly stepped down the hall and into the bathroom, careful not to wake my mom up. I bent down in the floor to pick up my uniform, folded it up, and set it back on the dresser. I walked back to where Seiko had dropped my eye patch on the floor to pick it up and set it on the nightstand next to my bed. Then I quietly got into bed and snuggled up in the covers to wait for Seiko.

I saw her slowly open the door and walk in quietly, carefully closing the door behind her. She set her uniform on the dresser beside mine, and motioned for me to scoot over. I complied to her request, and she carefully got into bed and snuggled close to me. I felt her ice cold feet touch mine.

"Seiko, your feet are freezing," I told her, turning over to face her. "You want some socks?"

She smiled. "No, I'm fine thanks."

The moonlight entered through the window and shined on Seiko's face. She had brushed both of her curls out of her hair. In my opinion, she looked so pretty when her hair was natural. Now don't get me wrong, she was still pretty with the curls, but when they were down, she looked even more prettier.

"What are you staring at?" Seiko giggled playfully.

"You." I replied, tucking her hair behind her ear.

I saw a hint of a blush appear on her face. I felt her wrap an arm around me as she pulled me in for a deep kiss.

"Naomi?" She asked when she pulled away, laying her head on the pillow and looking up at the ceiling.

"Hm?" I say, mirroring her action.

"You remember when I asked you if you'd stay with me even when you got married and had kids?"

"Yes. Why?"

Seiko was quiet for a minute, then she said, "I'm gonna rephrase it since things have changed between us."

I smiled at her as she let go of me to take my hand in her's. She cleared her throat.

"Naomi Nakashima?"

"Yes?"

"Will you stay with me forever and ever and ever? We can get married and have kids. Well, we don't have to have kids if you don't want to. I'm gonna leave that up to-."

I shut her up with a kiss.

"Of course I will, Seiko. Forever and always. And I'd like to have at least a few kids, but I'd like to finish school first." I pulled back, giggling.

She had a small blush on her face. "Y-yeah."

"I need to sleep, but I don't want to." I said sadly, as I reached a hand up to stroke her cheek.

"Neither do I," She replied, wrapping her arm around me once again. "But it would probably be a healthy thing to do, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. Might as well do it, huh?" I kissed her on the nose and rolled over with her arm still wrapped around me. "But can you promise me something?"

"Sure. What is it?" She inquired, snuggling close to my back.

"Promise me you'll be here when I wake up in the morning."

She lay her head on the back of my neck. "I promise."

And with that, the both of us fell asleep.

I woke up on the floor inside of a snow white room. I panicked as I looked around. No one was around. Only me.

"Seiko?!" I shouted, getting up to my feet.

No answer.

"Seiko?!"

Still no answer.

Suddenly, I heard a child-like laugh. I gasped and looked around the room to see where it was coming from.

Nowhere. Just whiteness all around. Then I heard it again.

"Where the hell is that coming from?" I asked myself.

A bright light appeared in the distance. I shielded my eyes as it got brighter and brighter. Then I saw something that made my jaw drop and my eyes widen in surprise. Yoshie and Sachiko Shinozaki walked out of the light, hand in hand. Yoshie was clad in an all-white outfit, and young Sachiko wore a white dress. When Sachiko saw me, she let go of her mother's hand and walked towards me, leaving Yoshie behind.

For some strange reason, I wasn't afraid. Normally, I would've been. This child had committed all of those gruesome murders and trapped the poor souls inside Heavenly Host. She had driven me into killing Seiko, as well. She was the cause of my fear of scissors, too.

The young girl stopped directly in front of me. "Naomi Nakashima?"

I froze in place, although I wasn't afraid. "Yes?"

The next thing I knew, I was captured into a bone-crushing hug by Sachiko. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"For..what..?" I grunted out through the hug.

I felt the child release the hold she had on me, and I could breathe normally again. As I awaited her answer, I caught a glimpse of small pools of tears welling up in the child's eyes.

"For undoing my mistakes." She stated, as the tears fell from her eyes.

I slightly gasped at the child's words. Had she really felt remorse for her actions? I bent down to become eye-level with her. "I'm listening, Sachiko."

She slowly took two steps back from me and looked in the direction of her mother, who nodded her head once.

Sachiko turned her attention back to me and spoke.

"I've done alot of bad things. Most of, no, all of it was out of rage. But, I didn't use to be like that, you know." Sachiko explained.

I calmly spoke back to the child. "Sachiko, what Mr. Yanagihori did to both you and your mother was wrong. I don't blame you for being angry like you were. You had every reason to be."

Sachiko sniffled a little, shaking her head at me. "I may have had every reason to be, but that doesn't mean I had to murder all of those innocent people like I did."

I immediately shut my mouth. I couldn't argue with her on that at all.

"But, you and your friends managed to undo all of my damage. I have to express my gratitude for that to every single one of you. You, Shinohara, both Mochidas, Suzomoto, Morishige, your teacher, Kishinuma, and cousin Shinozaki."

I raised an eyebrow. "Cousin?"

She giggled. "Yes. She never mentioned that to you?"

I thought back as far as I could. "She might have, but I don't recall."

The ebony-haired girl giggled again. "Maybe you have trouble remembering because of all those googly-eyed stares you'd been giving Shinohara the whole time."

A strong blush tinted my face as I squeaked in surprise. "How did you know about all of that?"

"Love as you know is s strong thing, Nakashima. Even in the evilest of places, you will find it. As you and your friends roamed the halls of Heavenly Host for the very first time, the love all of you shared seeped within. I sensed it. Your love for both Shinohara and the Mochida boy put your heart in conflict. And the part about it, Nakashima, is that you didn't know it until Shinohara passed."

I gulped. Even Sachiko knew. Everyone had know except for me.

"Even after I had been appeased, I could feel the mourning and grieving you all had for your fallen friends. It was a strong feeling, a very strong feeling indeed. But, I digress, I must repay you and your friends for everything. Starting with you."

What did she have in mind? I approached with caution, as she stared at me with remorseful eyes.

"Your eye, please, Nakashima." She commanded in a kind tone.

I kneeled before her, wondering what she was going to do. I brushed my bangs back to reveal my blind eye.

"Close both of your eyes." She commanded yet again.

I complied to her request.

All of a sudden, I felt a tiny hand on my left eye, accompanied by a small burning sensation. The pain was tolerable, but I grunted over the small twinge of pain that I did feel. Pretty soon, it was over.

"Open your eyes, Nakashima."

I opened my eyes, and became overjoyed with happiness. I could see out of my left eye once again. I touched at it and let out a small laugh of joy. It was my turn to capture the small girl in a hug.

"Thank you, Sachiko. Thank you so much." I cried, tears of joy streaming down my face.

"No need to thank me. It was just a way of expressing my gratitude." She turned to leave.

"Wait!" I shouted. "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna pay a visit to Shinohara next," She turned to give me one last smile, and grabbed hold of her mother's hand. "Take care, Nakashima."

She and her mother vanished back inside the light.

Then I blacked out.


	5. Ayumi's Flower Garden and Yoshiki's Surprise (Yoshiki & Ayumi)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> P.O.V. shift from Naomi to Yoshiki, to Ayumi, then back to Yoshiki.
> 
> \- 54

Yoshiki's P.O.V

I had to get out of that room for a bit to take a smoke break. I didn't want to leave Shinozaki's side, but Ms. Yui insisted that I go outside and get some air and that she would be right there with her while I was gone.

"Good ole' teach." I said aloud to myself as I lit up a cigarette.

I took a seat on the bench and watched as the cars disappeared from the parking lot one by one. I wanted to go home, turn on the heater, and jump into my warm and comfortable bed, but I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing Shinozaki needed someone there with her.

I took a long draw of my cigarette as I thought about the pig-tailed girl. She'd be okay. I knew she would. Shinozaki would come through for us. She always did.

My stomach growled, causing me to groan out of hunger. If only I could take a quick run to my apartment to grab that giant club sandwich from my fridge and come back here to eat it. The cafeteria had closed it's doors about an hour ago. My only option for food was a vending machine just down the hall from Shinozaki's room.

I took another draw of my cigarette, slouching back into the bench. The stars were out in the sky tonight. I wasn't much of an astronomer like Shinohara was. That girl loved looking at the stars. I remember the night after the culture festival. Just before Shinozaki told us scary stories and introduced us to the Sachiko charm. Shinohara had dragged both Nakashima and I outside to gaze up at the stars with her while the others finished cleaning up what was left of the festival. She pointed out constellations that I had no idea existed. I kinda tuned her out because it kinda bored me, but Nakashima? Please. Shinohara had her full attention right from the start. I remember smirking to myself as I watched the two of them look at the stars together. There had to be something going on between the two of them.

Speaking of those two, I wondered how things had worked out between 'em. I gave Nakashima the best advice that I could. It wasn't much, but it looked to be enough for the kid. Never been a love expert, and I never will be. Come to think of it, I did see the way Shinohara dragged her off to the infirmary to clean up that nasty gash on her arm, and the way they had come back sticking close to each other's side.

I took a last drag of my cigarette and flicked it into the bushes that sat just outside the emergency room entrance. I thought back to my conversation with Nakashima when we looked for Shinohara's tongue.

I smiled to myself. "Nakashima's a good kid."

A cold breeze blew past the hospital. I closed my eyes as I felt it blow through my hair. It was getting kind of stuffy in Shinozaki's room, so it was good for a change. I reached to stuff my hands inside my jacket pockets, but I remembered that I left my jacket in the chair inside the room, so I settled for my slacks pockets.

"Wonder how Morishige and Suzomoto are doing." I said out loud again.

Those two were inseperable. Why couldn't Shinozaki and I have had a relationship like they did? I wouldn't mind if she had my arm in a death grip 24/7.

Then my mind drifted off to Satoshi. The guy had looked devastated after Nakashima had let him down easy. He did love her. He really did. But, she had Shinohara. He'd have to move on and find love somewhere else.

Shinozaki had a crush on him, but he didn't return the feelings. God, she drove me insane with it. Mochida this. Mochida that. It made me angry, but I kept it hidden. Shinozaki had a heart, too, and the heart wants what the heart wants, so I let it go for the time being.

My stomach growled once again as I turned to go back inside the hospital doors. Shinozaki's room was two floors up, so I had to use the elevator to get up there. As I entered the elevator and pushed the '2' button, I thought of when I confessed to Shinozaki.

-Flashback-

"Where are those two?" Shinozaki had asked me as she began laying a candle down on the floor, so the others could turn off their flashlights and rest.

"I have no idea. I think I heard Shinohara mention something about taking her to the infirmary." I replied, sitting down beside Shinozaki.

"Onii-chan, I have to pee." Yuka whispered, tugging on her brother's sleeve.

Satoshi sighed. "Again?"

"Yes, again! Now come on!" Yuka commanded in a slightly angry tone, getting up and walking out of the room.

Satoshi looked at Shinozaki and me with worry in his eyes, then stood up to walk out of the room behind the young girl.

I heard Shinozaki give a low sigh. "Something's up with her."

"Yeah, no kidding." I said sarcastically. Yuka had been acting strange ever since we first set foot inside this school once again. It was like she had a split personally disorder or something like that. One minute, she was the happy and cheerful Yuka we had come to know, then next, she had this angry and mysterious side. I was secretly hoping that the school hadn't gotten to her like it had done the others. That would've made things worse for Shinozaki.

I looked over to the girl in question. She had clutched her knees in the same fashion like Nakashima had done when she broke down crying when we couldn't find Shinohara's tongue. I could only imagine how much stress had been on the shoulders of Shinozaki. She had used most of her energy to revive the others, as she began looking tired. The only things she had left to do now were to find away to destroy this school and keep us safe.

"I'm tired, Kishinuma," She said, her eyes looking at the floor. "I put all of my energy, heart, and soul into those resurrection spells. I think it cost me dearly, but it was worth it."

I saw her look over to Suzomoto and Morishige, whom were leaning on each other in the candlelight. Their eyes were closed as they basked in the moment of rest.

"Yes, Shinozaki, when you get us all out of here alive and blow this horrid place all to hell, then you'll see it's been worth it all along."

I saw her smile a little, then it disappeared as she spoke her next statement. "I may never gain my strength back, Kishinuma. The Book of Shadows took a part of my soul from me. It sucked out a small amount of my lifespan. That I can live with, but I'm not sure if I can get the rest of you out alive or if I can destroy this place before more people lose their lives here."

I gasped as tears filled her eyes. She risked a few years of her life to save her friends, and that took alot of courage. Shinozaki did have a good heart. She just caved in under pressure too much.

"Hey, Shinozaki, hey look at me." I gently commanded.

The girl complied and looked up at me with tear-filled eyes. She had some really pretty eyes, now that I got a good look at them.

"Listen to me. You've got us this far without screwing up. You are the only one who knows how to do this, Shinozaki. You can do it. We all believe you can. Mochida has faith in you. Nakashima has faith in you. I have faith in you. And so does Ms. Yui, Morishige, Suzomoto, and Shinohara." I said, doing my best to motivate her.

She grimaced at the mention of Mochida and Nakashima's names. It had to hurt thinking about the two of them possibly getting together. But there was also the fact that she didn't know what I had already knew.

"Mochida looks so happy when he sees Nakashima, doesn't he?" She asked, saddened.

"Looks like it."

"And by the looks of it, I assume she likes him back, correct?"

"Well...not technically."

She immediately looked back up to me, her eyebrow cocked in curiousity. "What?"

I ran a hand through my hair, thinking of a way to say my next sentence. "Her and I had a talk earlier. She just...felt torn between him and someone else."

"Who?" She asked, but gave a sideways smirk when the thought struck her. "Wait, don't tell me. Shinohara?"

"Yep. How'd you know?" I asked, not surprised back the fact the she had known about it.

"It's obvious. I think every one of us saw the way that Shinohara looked at her, just like we all saw how Nakashima looks at her. It just took Nakashima a little while to see that."

"Well, yeah, that's true," I admitted. "But, hey, Mochida is free now."

She immediately looked down at the floor, a sad expression graced her features. "I've given up on him, Kishinuma."

I think my heart fluttered. I'm not sure what it was, but I had a fuzzy feeling in my stomach for a split second, then it disappeared. "Why?"

"He doesn't like me in that way. Nakashima is the one he likes. I've realized that now. And besides, I don't think there's any boy that would like a freak like me." She crossed her arms on her knees and rested her head in them.

"Hey, that's not true, Shinozaki! Don't down yourself like that! I know plenty of guys that would like you." I crossed my arms at my chest.

She scoffed. "Oh yeah? Name one."

I gave an exasperated sigh, as I scratched the back of my head. I was grateful that she couldn't see the red tint that had colored my cheeks.

She looked up at me with anger evident on her face. "Well?!"

I flinched back at her words. Deciding on what I should do, I gave another sigh.

'It's time to face the music, Kishinuma,' I thought to myself. 'Tell her how you really feel, and remember Nakashima's words from earlier.'

"I guess what I'm trying to say is...is that...I love you, okay?!" I blurted it out as loud as I could, startling Morishige and Suzomoto from their moment.

Shinozaki gawked up at me. "Y-you what?"

I scratched the bridge of my nose. "I love you."

Ayumi looked at the candle light in deep thought. Well, I guess I just screwed up what friendship I had with her. I really didn't feel like being yelled at, so I quickly thought of a ruse.

"Well, I guess I'll go search for Nakashima and Shinohara." I declared about to stand up.

Shinozaki quickly grabbed my hand. "No. Please stay."

I looked at the girl in shock. Her voice didn't sound angry or disappointed. She was calm. Very calm. Strange. I then nodded at her and remained still where I was sitting.

She still stared into the candle's flame. "Why? Why do you love me, Kishinuma?"

I joined her in staring at the flickering flame of the candle, then my eyes drifted to Suzomoto and Morishige, whom had been staring at us, open-mouthed, since I had confessed. I gave Suzomoto a 'give me a moment alone with her' look, and she quickly understood.

"Uh, Shig?" She quietly prodded him.

"Yes, what is it, Mayu?" He bent down sideways with his ear close to her, still staring at Shinozaki and me.

"I have to pee, too." She quickly stated, making up a ruse as well. I saw the look on her face that she hated lying to Morishige.

"Can't you go by yourself?" He asked, evidently not wanting to miss the moment Shinozaki and I were about to have.

"No, I'm scared." Mayu squeaked, clutching Morishige's arm and nuzzling his shoulder.

Morishige raised up his glasses to rub his eyes. "Alright then. Come on."

They both got up and disappeared out of the room.

I turned to her, thinking of the words to say to her. There were so many.

I tilted her chin up to look me in the eyes. "Why do I love you, Shinozaki? Hmm...well let's see. I think you are one of the most beautiful girls in Japan...no in the whole world! I think you deeply care about our classmates enough to be our class rep. You risked your life to bring back your friends for the sake of our happiness. That took guts. You think you are the weirdest girl on this earth because of your fascination for spirits and the afterlife, when to me, it makes you even more special. You hyperventilate when the stress gets to you, which I admit scares the shit out of me. And most important of all, you opened my eyes that day when you told me to stay in school."

My eyes-widened. Did all of that just come out of my mouth? I could see the look on Nakashima's face now. She'd be proud.

Shinozaki, on the other hand, stared up at me open-mouthed with a slight blush on her cheeks.

Things went silent between us as she continued staring at me, and I turned my attention from her to the flickering flame of the candle.

I could still see her staring out of the corner of my eye as she began to form words.

"No one has ever said anything that sweet to me in my whole life." She stated, quietly.

I looked back to the pig-tailed girl, whom had turned her attention to the candle. She had what looked like a small smile on her face, which made me smile. I had never seen Shinozaki smile at anything that I have ever said to her before. Could she maybe...just maybe...like me, too? I immediately brushed off the thought. Of course not. She would never fall for someone like me. If I was more like Mochida, then maybe, but there was no chance in hell I was gonna be a goody two shoes like he was. No offense to the poor guy, though.

"No one ever?" I replied.

"No one."

More silence.

I cleared my throat. "Well it's all true."

She looked me in the eyes and smiled again. "Thank you, Yoshiki. You have no idea how much that means to me."

Yoshiki? She's always called me "Kishinuma", but "Yoshiki"? Could that have been a sign?

"You're welcome...Ayumi." I said, returning the favor of calling her by her first name.

I heard a slight giggle come from the pig-tailed girl, which made me laugh a little as well. All of a sudden she scooted closer to me. My face reddened yet again as she leaned her head on my shoulder.

"You know, Yoshiki...in a way...I think I...love you, too..." She confessed.

"Hu-huh?" I asked, dumbfounded.

She went silent, then she began to explain. "I think that was the main reason why I treated you like shit. Ever since I persuaded you to stay in school, you've been lingering inside my mind. And like most of the previous Shinozakis' in my family, I hid those feelings by mistreating you. Everyone hides their feelings in a different way."

'Nakashima, you are one smart girl.' I thought to myself, thinking back to when Nakashima had told me the same thing.

"You have always been there for me, Yoshiki, even though I did all that to you. I should've noticed the signs. I guess I was so blind by my feelings for Mochida, huh?" She giggled.

"You and Nakashima should room together!" I joked, considering the kid had been in the same situation when it came to Mochida and Shinohara.

She giggled again. It felt good for her to laugh at one of my jokes for once.

"You really think I can do this, Yoshiki? Can I really bring down this school and save everyone in it?" She asked, her expression falling to a sad one.

"Hey," I tilted her chin back up to me. "You're a Shinozaki. It's in your blood to do death-defying things. I have faith in you."

She smiled at me again. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. God, you have a pretty smile." I smirked.

A tint of red appeared on her face. "Yeah? So do you."

Now it was my turn to blush.

"Aww now you're blushing." She cooed, booping my nose.

"Nuh uh." I argued playfully.

"Yeah huh." She argued back.

All of a sudden she stopped and stared. I followed where she was staring, and it was directed right at...my lips. My eyes widened as I saw her begin to lean in. Then I began to sweat as I found myself leaning in.

'Just wait till Nakashima hears about this.' I thought to myself, as I felt our lips touch.

It was a deep, sensual kiss. Nothing special, but by god it was special to me.

As soon as she let go, I felt the fuzzy feeling in my stomach deepen. I'd just been kissed by our class rep. The girl who had a stick stuck up her ass 24/7 and never learned to have fun. But, I loved her just the same.

"Whoa." Was all I could say.

"Yeah." She whispered.

"That was...the best moment of my life." I said awestruck.

She giggled again and took my hand in her's, leaning on my shoulder. "Mine, too."

-End of Flashback-

I smiled at the memory as the elevator doors opened. I stepped out into the hall and looked for the number to Shinozaki...I mean Ayumi's room. It was gonna be hard to get used to calling her by her first name. Maybe I'd just stick to Shinozaki.

Here it was. Room 354. I opened the door to see Ms. Yui leaned back in the chair with her eyes closed, and Shinozaki still out cold on the bed.

I walked over and gently prodded our teacher. "Hey, Ms. Yui?"

She slowly opened her eyes. "Hm? What is it, Kishinuma?"

"Where you asleep?" I asked kneeling on the ground.

"No, but I was almost there," She said, rubbing her eyes. "I'm a little hungry. How about you?"

"I thought you'd never ask." I smiled. "I'll go get it."

"No, Kishinuma, you stay here with Shinozaki, and I'll go." Ms. Yui quietly chided as if she was going to wake up the comatosed girl.

"Okay." I complied, taking money out of my wallet.

Ms. Yui stopped me. "No, young Kishinuma, I'll buy it for you."

"No, Ms. Yui, I couldn't possibly make you buy my food for me." I countered, taking the money out of my wallet and handing it to her.

She held it back out. "No, I'm getting it for you."

I pushed her hand back. "No, that's not necessary."

"Yes it is, Kishinuma. I'm gonna buy it for you whether you like it or not," She held the wad of cash back in front of me. "Think of it as a present from your teacher."

I thought it over, then I smiled. "Okay then."

I stuffed the money back inside my wallet as she dug through her purse for money.

"Now what would you like?" She asked as she pulled out a few ones.

"Bag of chips and a Coke, please."

"Got it. I'll be right back." Ms. Yui said, getting up to leave.

Right when she shut the door, I walked over to Shinozaki's side. She had an I.V. in the crook of her left arm that led up to a bag of fluid hanging from a pole. The doctor had told us what he had running through her, but it had slipped my mind due to how smart the word sounded. They had an EKG machine attached to her chest to monitor her heart rate, as well as an oxygen mask covering her mouth and nose. She was a walking disaster.

I pulled up a chair so I could sit at her side.

"Shinozaki..." I whispered, taking her limp hand in mine.

She was unresponsive.

I felt tears filling up my eyes, blinking them back to prevent them from falling. What's wrong with me? I've never cried in my life. Not even when mom and dad kicked me out.

"Shinozaki..." I said again, thinking of something I could say to her while she lay there in her deep sleep.

Again, she was unresponsive.

"You did it, Shinozaki," I began, feeling the tears well up again. "You saved everyone, and you destroyed the school. Because of you, no one will ever set foot in there again. You're a hero to all of us, Shinozaki. Especially to Ms. Yui, Suzomoto, Morishige, and Shinohara. Because of you Nakashima is happy again. We all are. All the tortured souls of Heavenly Host have been freed thanks to you. You layed your life down on the line in order to protect those around you. That is what makes a hero in my book. You are MY hero, Shinozaki. You've been everything to me since day one. Every day since then I have fallen for you more and more. I didn't care if you mistreated me. I still stuck by you because I believed in you. I knew you had it in you to save the world from that hell. And you did. It may have cost you a few years off of your life and a part of your soul, but you did what had to be done anyway. Now, it's my responsibility to take care of you for the rest of your life. Not forcing myself at all...I just want to take care of you. It's time I had responsibilities now. We're growing older and getting into the world. I don't know what'll happen to us, either. But, I do know this: I want to be with you for the rest of my life, Shinozaki. Right up until the day I die. If you're hearing any of this at all, then hear this: I love you. Okay?"

The tears were running down my cheeks as I finished my heart-felt speech. I gripped her hand tighter, and bent down to lay my head on her hand as I wept uncontrollably.

After a few minutes had passed, my weeping stopped and I stood up to kiss the girl on the forehead.

"I love you, Shinozaki...please come back to me." I whispered.

At that very moment, I could've sworn I saw her smile in her sleep.

Ayumi's Dream (Ayumi's P.O.V)

I was in an emerald green field. It was filled with dandelions and flowers of all sorts. Lillies, tulips, roses, lilacs, every kind of flower species that ever existed was there. I had to have been dreaming.

I tried to think back to when I had fallen asleep, but it had hurt a certain part of my head whenever I tried. Strange.

I slowly walked through the field, admiring all the flowers that had been in bloom. I had really taken a liking to roses recently, as I caught a glimpse of a huge patch of them in the middle of the field. I quickly ran over and inhaled the sweet scent of them, sighing in content.

Then I heard a familiar voice come from the sky.

"You did it, Shinozaki..."

I immediately recognized the voice. "Kishinuma?"

"You are MY hero, Shinozaki..."

I blushed at his words. "I'm a hero?"

"You've been everything to me since day one..."

That was when I felt my heart skip a beat. He really did love me, didn't he?

"I know," I said, as if I was talking to him like he were in front of me. "You've been my everything since day one, too. I just hid my feelings like a scared little girl."

"If you're hearing any of this at all, then hear this: I love you. Okay?"

I immediately started crying at his affectionate words. "I love you, too, Kishinuma! I love you so much!"

"Beautiful aren't they?" I heard a child's voice behind me.

"Huh?" I quickly turned around to see Sachiko Shinozaki smelling of one of the biggest roses in the patch.

"These roses," She confirmed. "They're beautiful."

I was stunned by her sudden appearance. She didn't look hostile at all. She wore her white dress, indicating that this was the real Sachiko I was talking with.

"Sa-Sachiko? W-what are you doing here?" I asked.

The child walked up to another rose to smell it's delicate sent. "I've come to repay you for fixing my mistakes."

"Fixing your mistakes?"

Sachiko nodded her head, smiling. "Yes. You saved all of those harmless souls from their suffering. You are a hero in their eyes...just like you are in Kishinuma's eyes."

I stayed silent, begging her to continue.

"Like I've told Nakashima and Shinohara, whom I have visited previously, the love you and your friends shared was powerful enough to break the darkness I held over the school. Kishinuma's love for you was mixed in with that love as well. Then of course, after I had left, the school had selected a new me. Poor Yuki. She was released with the rest of the souls trapped inside Heavenly Host. All thanks to you."

I blushed out of recognition. "Well...thanks...Sachiko. But, what are you going to do now? You know, since you've been set free permanently?"

The ebony-haired girl smiled at me. "I am reunited with my mommy, now."

I smiled at that statement. "That's great, Sachiko. I'm sure she's happy about that, too."

She giggled. "Thanks. Now, how to repay you?"

The child tapped her chin in thought, then an idea struck her.

"Listen closely to what I have to say: I cannot give you back the piece of your soul that the Book of Shadows sucked out of you. You understand this?"

I nodded my head.

"But, I can, however, promise you that you will break the ugly tradition of our family. Yoshiki will not die like the tradition says he should. Instead, you will have children and grow on to be prosperous in your life. The Book of Shadows will not harm you anymore because I am commanding you to burn it. The evil will never again be passed down in our family. Your dear sister Hinoe will be returned and brought back to you. Plus, you shall wake up from your coma in the morning so you can be with your beloved Kishinuma forever and ever."

I stared shockingly at the little girl. She was giving me the opportunity to live a happy life all because I had destroyed the hell she had created out of rage. She even gave my sister back.

I began to cry as I bent down to hug her. "Thank you, Sachiko."

She giggled, hugging me back. "Anything for my cousin."

I let go, as I watched Sachiko begin to lead herself out of the patch. "Where are you going?"

She stopped in her tracks, and peered over her shoulder at me. "To see your dear Kishinuma in his dreams."

She bid me a goodbye and disappeared out of the patch.

I disappeared as well.

Yoshiki's Dream (Yoshiki's P.O.V)

I opened my eyes to see that I was back inside my apartment. I was in my bed. How did I get here? All I remember is being at the hospital with Shinozaki and Ms. Yui, then suddenly I woke up here.

I raised up to sit on the side of the bed and yawned, scratching my head. I looked down to see that I was still in my school uniform. Maybe I had sleep-walked back here from the hospital? Nah, that was damn near impossible, plus I don't sleep-walk. My thoughts then drifted to Shinozaki.

"Wonder how she's doing right now." I thought aloud to no one but myself.

I got up from my bed and made my way into the living room and sat down on the couch, turning on the TV.

"I love this show! " Exclaimed a voice next to me.

"Hm?" I turned my head to see Sachiko Shinozaki, startling me so much that I screamed and fell sideways off the couch. "Aaahhh!"

She leaned over the arm of the couch to look down at me, giggling. "I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I mumbled out of embarrassment, standing up to brush myself off. "What do you want?"

"Just wanted to pay a friendly visit to my cousin's boyfriend." She winked at me, taking the remote in her hand to flip through the channels.

I made a small noise out of surprise, a red tint heated up my cheeks. "She's not my girlfriend!"

"Sure she isn't. I know you're in love with her, Kishinuma."

"Get out of my apartment." I commanded in a slightly angry tone, pointing to the door.

"This is just a dream. Relax a little, huh?" She smiled, still cycling through the channels.

"A dream?" I asked, astonished. "But it feels so real."

"That's the idea, Kishinuma," She said, turning the TV off and setting the remote aside. "I've came here for a reason, you know."

"Oh yeah? Figures." I said, crossing my arms at my chest. "Everyone always has a reason. What is it?"

"I've visited Nakashima, Shinohara, and cousin Shinozaki in their dreams already. I'm repaying all of you for undoing my damage and destroying my curse." She explained.

"That was all Shinozaki's doing. She was the only one who had an idea of what to do." I said, uncrossing my arms and taking a seat on the couch.

"True, but you all did have a part in it, too. You all assisted cousin Shinozaki in her time of need. The love you all shared bled through the dark halls of the school. That's why I sent Yuki, Ryou, and Tokiko to run you all ragged like I did. I tried turning you all against each other, so that love would hopefully disappear. But, I was wrong wasn't I? So, let me tell you what I'm going to do for you then I'll leave."

"I'm all ears, Sachiko." I said, with my full attention on the young girl.

"You will care for cousin Shinozaki for the rest of your life. The two of you will get married and have kids of your own. Your relationship with your parents will no longer be strained, as they will come back and attempt to make things better between all of you tomorrow after you come back from your trip to the hospital. And I have one little surprise for you when you wake up in the morning."

I grinned at the prospect of being with Shinozaki forever. Plus the fact that my parents would come back in my life, which meant that I'd get to see Miki alot more.

"Heh...that sounds pretty good to me, Sachiko."

She smiled and stood up from the couch. "I must take leave of you, now."

"Where are you going now?" I asked, watching her open the door to my apartment.

"I think I might pop in and see what's going on in Morishige's head. Goodbye, Kishinuma. Take care of my cousin."

"Yeah, alright. Take care, Sachiko." I winked at the kid.

She giggled and started out the door when I remembered the "surprise" that she had spoken of.

"Wait!" I shouted.

"Yes?" She poked her head back inside the door.

"What surprise?"

"Oh, that," She giggled. "You'll see when you wake up."

And with that last statement, she was gone.

And the last thing I remember is watching her leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clear up some confusion you may have, this is the order of the people who's dreams that Sachiko appears in from first to last. 1st - Naomi, 2nd - Seiko, 3rd - Ayumi, 4th - Yoshiki, 5th - Morishige, 6th - Mayu, 7th - Yuka, and 8th - Satoshi. But the order I am writing them in will be 1st - Naomi, 2nd - Ayumi, 3rd - Yoshiki, 4th - Morishige, 5th - Mayu, 6th - Yuka, 7th - Satoshi, and saving the best for the last, 8th - Seiko. Hope this clears it all up.
> 
> \- 54


	6. Romeo & Juliet (Morishige & Mayu)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> P.O.V. shift to Morishige then Mayu.
> 
> \- 54

Morishige's P.O.V

"Hey, Mayu?" I said quietly, getting the attention of the happy yet always energetic girl, whom had been clinging to my arm since we had left the hospital.

"Yes, Shig?" She asked, looking up at me with her piercing green eyes.

"I really hate to put a stop to your display of affection, but can you please be so kind as to let me regain the circulation of blood flow in my arm?" I chided in a polite and easy manner.

The girl quickly let go, and clasped her hands behind her back. The shade of red was evident on her cheeks. "S-sorry, Shig."

I gave a slight smile. "Don't worry, Mayu, it's all good."

I watched as she stared at the sidewalk we were walking on with a sad expression. I really hated to see Mayu with a frown on her face. It pained my heart.

I stuffed my hands in my pockets, joining Mayu in looking at the ground while we walked. I didn't know what to say to cheer her up. I always got tongue-tied sometimes when I was around her.

That's when I had an idea. Shinohara had always said that looking up at the stars was a really romantic thing to do, but she would always mention that whenever she was around Nakashima, but she would never get the hint. I smiled at the thought of those two. They were something else.

Then I looked up. Indeed, the stars were shining their brightest tonight. That's when I got Mayu's attention. She just had to see this.

"Mayu?"

"Hm?"

I grabbed hold of her hand to stop her from walking. "Look above us."

She did just that, staring in amazement at the many lights in the sky. "Oh, Shig, they're beautiful!"

"They are aren't they? But, their beauty doesn't even compare to yours, Mayu." I said, wholefully and truthfully.

"Oh, Shig!" Mayu giggled, the slight blush appearing on her face once again. "You're so sweet!"

I smiled at her. Then when I realized I was still holding her hand, it was my turn to blush. I was grateful the shade of night had hidden it, though.

I heard her give a slight giggle and lean on my arm once again as we continued walking down the street.

I cleared my throat. "Mayu?"

"Mhm?" She replied in a dreamy tone.

"Can we talk now?"

She turned her head up to look at me. "Of course!"

"Okay." I smiled, trying to think of what to say first.

We were both silent for a few minutes, still walking. What to say to her? Again, I felt so tongue-tied around her. Just the sight of her jumbled up the words that I was trying to form inside my mind. So, I figured I just flat out tell her how I felt. Here we go.

"I love you!" We both exclaimed at the exact same time.

I looked at her with a shocked expression, as she looked away shyly. I'm pretty she was blushing almost as bad as I was. I reached up to remove my glasses so I could rub my eyes.

Mayu was the first one to speak after our simultaneous outburst of our mutual love for each other. "You do?"

I put my glasses back on and pushed them up so I could get a better view of her. "Of course I do, Mayu. To be honest, you're pretty much the only person I've ever cared about in that way."

She shyly clasped her hands behind her back again. "Really?"

"Yes." I said, giving her a crooked smile.

She brought her hand up to her mouth and giggled. "That's sweet."

I chuckled, letting go of her hand so I could lightly stroke her cheek. "And I suppose I should ask you the same thing, huh? Why do you love me, Mayu?"

Her eyes looked to the side of us as she tapped her chin in thought. "Hmmm..."

I stayed quiet as I waited patiently for her response.

"I'd say it would have to have been when we first started hanging out, you know? And I guess it deepened from there. Especially when the drama club had selected to do Romeo & Juliet for our end of the year project during our sophomore year." She explained, taking my hand in hers.

I chuckled again as I recalled the memory. "Yes, I remember that."

Mayu had been cast as Juliet in the play, and of course I was hoping to be Romeo. The sole reason for that was because there was a kissing scene involved. But, come to find out, I was casted as Romeo's understudy. I was so disappointed about that. I would've had to watch Mayu kiss another boy, which would've shattered my heart into pieces. My jealousy had gotten the better of me, but I couldn't help it. That's when I had called Shinohara one day after school, hoping she could help me.

-Flashback-

I opened the door to my room and tossed my bag into the floor. Then I collapsed on my back onto my bed in a huff. Today had been a hectic day at school, and much to my dismay, I did not get casted in the role of Romeo in our end of the year play. Instead, I got casted as the lousy understudy.

"Understudy? A damned understudy?" I thought aloud to myself, the frustration present in my voice. "I can't kiss Mayu as an understudy!"

I took off my glasses, rubbing my eyes. My brow knitted in frustration as I let out a loud sigh.

"I can't let him kiss Mayu! I just can't! It probably sounds selfish of me, but right now I couldn't care less! I gotta do something so I can get that main role!" I plotted out loud.

I then took out my phone and scrolled through my contacts. I knew Kishinuma wouldn't have been able to help me because he had to work directly after school, Nakashima was out of the question because she had taken a sick day from school today and probably wouldn't be feeling well, Shinozaki would surely look down upon me for trying to take out my competition with an underhanded move, Mochida was taking Yuka and one of her friends to a movie later that evening, and I couldn't let Mayu in on what I was planning to do. So, there was only one person left: Shinohara.

I sighed. She liked to joke about things, but she could be serious sometimes, too. Either way, she was my only hope.

I dialed her number, listening to the ring as I patiently waited for her to pick up. Finally, I heard her voice.

"Seiko Shinohara speaking." She answered in a playful tone.

"Hi, Shinohara, this is Sakutaro Morishige. What are you up to right now?"

"On my way back home from taking care of my little Naomi." She cooed through the phone.

"Oh," I had forgotten that Shinohara said something at lunch about going to see Nakashima after school to bring her the assignments that she had missed that day. "How is Nakashima?"

"She's running a fever of a hundred and two. Poor little thing. She won't be at school tomorrow, either, because she's got a date with the doctor."

"Does she have any other symptoms?" I asked curiously.

I heard Shinohara's siblings greet her as she walked through the door of her home.

"Hi, guys!" She said, greeting them back. "Give me a few minutes will ya? I'm on the phone." She turned her attention back to me. "Well, there's the fever. Her throat was so sore she could barely talk. She complained about her stomach hurting. And finally she was coughing so bad, I thought she was gonna cough up a lung."

"Sounds like she has the flu."

"That's what I told her."

"Maybe she'll be feeling better by next week. Tell her I said get well soon."

"Sure hope so! And I already told her that we all hoped that she'd start feeling better as soon as possible! That was one thing that brought a smile to her face!"

"Mm."

"So, something on your mind, Morishige? It's not like you to call me out of the blue like this."

"Well, I was hoping you could help me with something?"

"Uhhhh...I hate to be a party pooper, but I'm not into that type of thing. How about you ask Suzume instead?" She snickered through the phone.

I facepalmed, imagining her cat-like grin as she said that. "Shinohara, that's not even-"

She interrupted me. "I'm only kidding, Morishige. So for real what's up?"

"I need a favor. If you don't mind that is." I raised up from my bed to sit on the edge.

"Depends on what it is."

"Well, see the drama club is doing Romeo & Juliet for our end of the year project, and Mayu was casted as Juliet. And I-"

She interrupted me again. "No way! You were cast as Romeo, right?"

My heart immediately sank as I remembered my disappointment. "Not even close."

"Aw. Well, what did you get then?"

"Romeo's understudy."

"An understudy? What?! Come on, you would've made a perfect Romeo for Suzume!"

"Our drama teacher begs to differ."

"Apparently. So, what's the favor?"

"I need your help. See, you know the story of Romeo & Juliet, right?"

"Of course! Almost everyone knows the story of Romeo & Juliet!"

"Yes, well, anyway, I don't want to see Mayu...kiss another boy." I hesitated on the last three words.

"Heh, someone is jelly!" She said in a singsong voice.

"Shut up! I'm not jealous!" I defended.

"Right, and I'm totally not into Naomi." She said sarcastically.

"Ugh, fine," I facepalmed again. "I'm jealous. I just need to get him out of the picture if you get what I'm saying."

She went silent for a moment, then I finally heard her speak. "I'm not gonna kill him or take him out if that's what you mean."

"I'm not that desperate, Shinohara. I mean we need to come up with something to prevent him from performing that night..."

"Hmmm..." I heard her think out loud. "Say, who is the kid playing Romeo anyway?"

"Hashimoto." I replied.

"Who?"

"Han Hashimoto."

I could've sworn I heard Seiko growl at the mention of his name. "Oh, I know that little jerk."

"You do, huh?"

"Oh yes, he flirts with Naomi all the time during our third class of the day. Naomi doesn't think of him that way, but it still bothers me. Between him and Satoshi, I don't know how I've still managed to contain my anger."

"Now, who's jealous?" I said into the phone with a smirk on my face.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't, Morishige. But as long as she's happy, it doesn't really matter."

I smiled. You gotta hand it to Shinohara. She's a real good sport about Naomi and her feelings.

"Seems we have a mutual enemy here." said I.

"Yes, it does. So, anyway," She continued. "What to do. What to do."

We began thinking of ways to prevent Hashimoto from starring in the play.

"We could slash his tires," I heard the curled haired girl speak into the phone, picturing the devilish smirk she probably had on her face. "Everyone knows he's proud of that car. Of course everyone also knows that his daddy was the one that bought it for him. Spoiled brat."

"Let's not get too extreme there, Shinohara. We don't need a billion dollar lawsuit on our heads do we?"

She sighed. "You're right."

We began thinking again. A few minutes had passed and still nothing.

"I suppose I should begin dinner, so the kids will have something to eat. I know dad will be starved when he comes home, too." I finally heard her speak.

"Oh," I said a little disappointed. "I can go if you want me to."

"That won't be necessary, Morishige. We can still talk while I cook, you know."

"I guess, but-"

"Hey, Yuu!" She called for her younger brother. It was so loud I had to hold the phone away from my ear.

"What, sis?" I heard him reply.

"How old is this shrimp platter that's in the fridge?" She had asked him.

"Probably 2 weeks I guess? I don't know, but it's in been in there for a pretty good while." He said.

"Oh really?" She said slowly. A plan must've been formulating in her mind.

"Shinohara? What are you thinking?" I interrupted the conversation between her and her brother.

"I think I may have found the solution to our problem." She said, tuning back into our conversation.

"2 week old crustaceans?" I asked standing up from the bed and walking over to sit in my computer chair, leaning back and crossing my legs on top of the desk.

"Mhm. Food poisoning. It's genius!"

"He'll be okay though, right?"

"Oh yeah sure he'll be fine. His bowels will just be screwed up for a couple days. Nothing too serious. One or two won't kill him. But if he ingests the whole platter, then he may have to go get his stomach pumped at the hospital..." She trailed off.

I couldn't understand if she was joking about that last part or not.

"I don't think we'll have to worry about him devouring the whole thing. He probably won't eat many because he gets stage fright and if he lets it get to him, then you won't be able to get him away from the toilet."

"Ew," Was all she could say. "Oh well, it happens to all of us."

I chuckled. "So what's our game plan, Shinohara?"

"Hmm...I make a quick appearance backstage to wish you and Suzume good luck and tell you to break a leg. Then I just so happen to "donate" this platter of shrimp to all of you and set it on the table. Then I'll bail out."

"Sounds good to me."

"But, be warned, my good sir. Don't you dare let Suzume or anyone else eat any of it. And don't you dare ingest any of it on accident."

"I'll make sure of it."

"Hashimoto takes a bite out of a couple of these babies, and he'll be blowing chunks for the rest of the night. That's where you come in, Mr. Montague, and sweep Ms. Capulet off her feet!"

"So you have been studying your Shakespeare haven't you?" I chuckled again.

"Told you!" She said. "Well, I guess I should leave you to your thoughts, Mr. Morishige. Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow. That I shall say good night till it be morrow!"

She quoted a line from Romeo & Juliet, then she was gone, leaving me listening to the sound of the dial tone.

I closed my phone and leaned back some more in my chair, thinking about the night of the play that would arrive in a couple weeks.

-End of Flashback-

"I still can't understand why Han got sick the way he did." Mayu sympathized, snapping me out of my flashback.

I smiled. "Yeah? Me neither."

She didn't believe me for a second. "Shig? Did you have something to do with that?"

Cat's out of the bag now. No denying it. "Maybe."

"How?" She asked, crossing her arms.

I looked at her face. She didn't seem angry or mad at all. But, then again, Mayu didn't have an angry bone in her body.

"Bad shrimp. Compliments of Seiko Shinohara." I smirked.

Mayu guffawed in a happy way, putting her hand over her mouth. "I knew she was up to something! She never brings food back there to us!"

I looked at her with a hopeful expression. "So you're not mad?"

She shook her head. "Of course not, Shig. Actually, I'm kinda glad that he wasn't Romeo anymore."

"Oh really?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"Mhm," She nodded her head. "I've never been too fond of Han, anyway. All he talks about is his father's money. Plus, I'd rather had the understudy been cast as the real Romeo instead."

"Huh?" I asked, looking towards the shorter girl, whom giggled again, winking at me.

"Everyone knows you were a better Romeo, Shig. Besides, I consider you the Romeo to my Juliet, anyways..." She trailed off, looking away shyly.

I gave a slight smile. Then an idea struck me. Taking her hand once again, I began to recite the lines of the famous kiss scene in Romeo & Juliet.

"If I profane with my unworthiest hand. This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand. To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."

She smiles, as she realizes what I'm doing and where I'm going with this. She begins to play along as well.

"Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, Which mannerly devotion shows in this, For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss." She says, getting into character.

"Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?"

"Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer."

I kneeled down in front of her, my hand still holding hers. "O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do. They pray; grant thou, lest faith turn to despair."

"Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake." She recites.

I stood up on my own two feet. "Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take."

I moved in to kiss her on the lips. A lover's kiss, much like Shakepeare had in mind when he was writing this piece. A kiss much like Romeo and Juliet would've shared.

As I let go, I held her hand again. Ignoring the small amount of blush that had to have been on my face, I continued the lines. "Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purged."

Mayu blushed as well. Her voice shook with shyness as she continued Juliet's lines. "Th-then have my li-lips the s-sin that they have t-t-took."

"Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged!" I put my hand on my heart dramatically. "Give me my sin again."

Another kiss was shared between us, longer this time.

Letting go, I could see that Mayu's blush had deepened. "You kiss by th' book."

And scene.

"Yeah? Thanks." I said, grabbing her hand to continue walking once again.

There was a silence between us. Pretty soon, I heard in my ears the sound of waves crashing. I looked to see that we were walking by the ocean. Not a beach with sand, but only a concrete ground with a guard rail to prevent you from falling in. It sounded peaceful, so that was when I decided to gently guide Mayu over to it.

We both leaned onto the rail watching as the waves crashed against each other. That was when I remembered what had been going on before all this Heavenly Host nonsense: Mayu was moving.

"Do you dread moving in the morning, Mayu?" I asked, feeling a gentle breeze blow through my hair.

I hears her give a small gasp. "Oh yeah, I remember that now. Shinozaki told us that things would go back to normal when we got home, didn't she?"

"Yep." I confirmed.

I heard her whimper. "I don't want to move, Shig."

I gently layed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. It'll be okay. We can still keep in touch by phone."

"Maybe...but I'm afraid." She confessed, closing her eyes.

"I know you are, Mayu. But, you'll adjust, I promise." I comforted, trying to be optimistic of the situation.

"That's not what I mean." She said, turning around to lean her back on the railing.

"It's not? Then what's the matter?" I persisted, mirroring her same action.

"I'm just..." She trailed off.

I heard her give another whimper. Sounded like she was starting to cry.

"I just...I'm scared that I'm going to lose you!" She confessed, sobbing heavily now

My face fell. A sorrowful expression graced the features of my face. Yes, I was saddened by Mayu's crying, but a part of me was also elated about the fact that she didn't want to lose me to someone else.

I immediately took her into a strong yet comforting hug. Comforting her while she cried.

"Shh. It'll be just fine, Mayu. You're not going to lose me. I promise you that." I comforted her in a determined tone.

She sniffled a few times as she wiped her eyes. Then she looked up at me. "You promise?"

I ran a quick hand through her hair. "Ole' Shig will never break a promise to his favorite girl. I promise."

She smiled through her tears and put her head onto my shoulder, still in my embrace.

"Shig?" I heard the girl say after many minutes of utter silence.

"Yeah, Mayu?"

She released our hug and put a hand on my cheek. "Tell me you love me."

My hand followed suit, gently stroking the hand on my cheek. "I love you."

She smiled at me in a giddy way. Then I continued.

"I love you so much. I always have." I felt tears stinging at my eyes. Mayu was the only one who could ever make me release my emotions.

As soon as the last word exited my mouth, she had caught me in a deep kiss. All while the waves crashed around us.

Morishige's Dream (Still Morishige's P.O.V)

I was sitting in the sand watching the waves thrash around in the ocean. The weird thing about all of this was that I was the only person on the beach. No people. No towels. No umbrellas. Nothing.

I double checked, looking around once again. Still nothing.

"That's a little odd." I said aloud to no one but myself, pushing up my glasses.

I looked up into the skies. Strangely it was very dark and cloudy, almost like a storm was brewing. Why would I be on the beach and it about to come a monsoon?

I stood up and looked down to see that I still had my school uniform on. Not really dressed for the beach either, am I?

I took a stroll by the ocean as the waves crashed. It soaked my shoes, but I was in that mindset where I really didn't care.

I stopped again and turned to face the horizon. Putting my hands on my hips, I inhaled the scent of the salty sea air, exhaling slowly. I closed my eyes, taking in the ease I felt.

"That's strange. The forecast called for sunny skies."

My eyelids shot open and I looked beside me to see who spoke. A young girl about the age of seven was staring at the horizon as her ebony hair blew wildly in the wind. No...it couldn't be? Sachiko?

She turned to face me with a smile on my face. She giggled, seeing how frozen in fear I was. "Calm down. I'm not going to bite."

I sharply exhaled the breath that I was holding in. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, nothing. Just thought I'd come by for a leisurely stroll by the beach. Looks like it's going to storm soon, huh?"

"Uhh...yes it does." I stammered.

She pouted. "That just takes the fun out of it, though."

I nodded as we both turned to face the horizon, looking at the darkened clouds.

"You are true to your feelings for Suzomoto, aren't you?" She inquired.

I turned to see the young child had a smirk on her face, still searching the clouds.

"Uhh..yes I am. 'Wholefully' would be the word for it I guess." I stammered once again. How did she know all of this?

"Wholefully, huh?" She whistled in amazement. "That's a ton of feelings, Shig."

I immediately felt a twinge of anger when she called me that. Mayu was the only one who called me that and the ONLY one I'd let call me that nickname.

"I only let Mayu use that nickname. Thank you very much."

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's cute, though." She winked.

The anger left me as I remembered all the times that Mayu had called me "Shig". I grinned. "Yeah..it is."

She giggled again. "Well, might as well give you your present now."

"Wha-? A present? For what?"

She looked down at the sand with a woeful expression. "I killed many innocent people with my curse. Even you."

I remembered falling out of that window. The pain that I had felt when I hit the ground with a SPLAT, and then pain of the glass shards cutting into me. I would've been feeling that for all eternity, but our class representative had couragously saved me and the others. I would be eternally grateful to the pig-tailed girl when she awoke from her coma.

"Even me." I repeated.

"I just want to give you a small 'thank you' and an 'I'm sorry I possessed you and threw you out of a window' present all in one." She explained. as I listened with an intent ear.

"Wh-what is it?" I asked.

"Walk with me." She politely commanded, holding out her hand for me to take.

I hesitated once or twice, then I gave in, grabbing the young girl's hand.

We began walking slowly as the wind blew wildly around us. Then young Sachiko spoke her peace.

"You and Suzomoto will be married in a huge ceremony, and will be together until the end of forever. You will be one of the greatest actors of your generation, earning you fame and fortune. Kids are totally up to both of you. Plus, I suppose your scars should be removed, huh? Raise up your shirt." She stopped walking.

"H-huh?" I inquired, trying to process all of the information that she had given me.

"You have scars from the glass, and I don't think you'd like to carry them for the rest of your life, do you? Now, up!" She poked my stomach.

I slightly lifted my shirt up after a moment of hesitation, taking notice of the pink scars that were tracing up my abdomen and chest. I sighed.

"I haven't noticed those." I said.

"You may feel a little pain, but I assure you it's nothing bad." Sachiko explained in the same tone of a doctor that was about to inject a young toddler with a vaccination.

She then lay a hand on my stomach. I cringed as I felt a slight burning sensation all throughout my body. Closing my eyes and gritting my teeth, I was eager for the time when the pain would pass.

Pretty soon, I felt Sachiko lift her hand away. "It's done."

I opened my eyes and looked at my front. All of the scarring had been cleared away as if it had never been there. I quickly covered my body back up, lowering my shirt.

"Thanks I guess." I gave the girl a sincere smile.

She smiled back. "My pleasure. Now, I must take leave of you."

I crossed my arms as I watched her turn to leave. "Where you going now?"

She stopped, keeping her gaze forward she spoke. "Suzomoto needs to know what I have in store for her, doesn't she?"

I grinned. "Mm."

She walked forward a few steps then stopped again. "Oh, and Morishige?"

"Yes?"

"Don't worry about her moving in the morning."

"Why? What's going on?"

She turned to look at me so I could see the smirk she was sporting on her face. "Just wait and see."

And with a wink of her eye and a few steps forward, she was gone. That was when I turned to look at the horizon once more. The sky was beginning to clear of the dark clouds. I shielded my eyes as the sun shined through on me and the ocean water, making it sparkle.

Mayu's Dream (Mayu's P.O.V)

I quickly woke up with a small chill as I felt the coldness of our classroom. I must've dozed off during class when I layed my head down for a quick rest. But the atmosphere felt strange. I was the only student here. No sign of Shig or the others. Not even Ms. Yui. The lights were on, though, which made me feel safe. Dark places scared me alot more since the Heavenly Host chaos that we had endured.

I stood up from my desk and walked over to the door. Reaching for the handle, I tried turning it a few times.

Gah! Locked.

What was the door doing locked? Didn't anyone know that I was in here?

I peeked out of the small window of the door. The hallway was completely pitch black. What's the deal here?

"Aw come on!" I shouted, forcibly jiggling the handle of the door. I hit it with my fist once, then I backed away from it. I didn't like to get mad or angry, so I quietly counted to ten.

I quietly exhaled. "Now, how do I get out of here?"

That's when I remembered that Ms. Yui kept a spare key somewhere in her desk. I jogged over to the desk and pulled out all of the desk drawers, cycling through the items that Ms. Yui had seemed to have thrown in here in a hurry.

"Huh. Usually she's so organized." I said aloud, still cycling through her things.

I went through everything twice, and I could not find it.

"Where is it?" I panicked.

'Looking for this?" A young child's voice spoke up, startling me.

I looked up to see what looked like the girl in the red dress from Heavenly Host sitting on the surface of Ms. Yui's desk, clutching the key in her right hand. The thing about it was that she no longer wore the red dress, but a white one instead.

I yelped and backed into the far corner of the wall. "What do you want?!"

Her eyes widened and she held up her hands in defense. "Whoa, calm down, Suzomoto. I'm not here to hurt you."

The kindness in her voice let me know that she was telling the truth. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "What brings you here?"

"Stopped by to see how you were doing." Sachiko let out a small giggle.

"Oh," I cracked a smile. "I'm doing fine. And you?"

"Just dandy!" She grinned.

I let out a small giggle. "That's good!"

"Yes, it is," The young girl then gave off a remorseful look. "Look, I never meant to hurt anyone back there. I was just so full of rage that it got the better of me."

My expression changed with hers as it began to dawn on me what she was talking about: Heavenly Host. She was the one that had trapped all of those poor people and the tortured souls inside that awful place. She didn't mean to, though. Rage got the better of her.

I couldn't find the words to say to her. I just stood there with my mouth shut.

"I came here to repay you for all the trouble I've caused you. And to tell you that Yuki and Tokiko are sorry for what they did to you, too."

I cringed as I remembered being dragged down the hallway, and thrown into the wall. The pain had hurt so much...

I shook the thoughts out of my head. There was no way I was thinking about that anymore.

"It's oka-" I started to forgive them, but Sachiko had interrupted me.

"You don't have to forgive us. I know it's hard to, and I don't want you to say something you don't mean." She kindly smiled. How could a child like that had been so cruel and murderous?

I smiled, walking over to the girl and putting a hand on her head to stroke her. "But, I do forgive all of you."

"You do?" She asked in astonishment.

I giggled. "Of course! You were just lost and disoriented after what had happened to your mother. I can understand where you were coming from, believe it or not."

"What...?" Sachiko had stammered.

"Our emotions get the better of us sometimes, but it's better to forgive and forget than to hold a grudge. It's okay, Sachiko. I forgive you, even if I'm not supposed to."

Sachiko took this into deep thought, then smiled. "You have a kind heart, Suzomoto."

"Thank you, Sachiko."

"Now how to repay you?" The ebony-haired girl thought out loud to herself.

"Oh, that's not neccessary-" I interrupted.

"But I want to.' She replied.

I stayed silent, bending down to her eye level.

"Oh, I got it! You will fulfill your dream of becoming a production designer. You and your darling Morishige will be together forever in the bonds of marriage. Like I told Morishige previously, kids are up to both of you. And to top it all off, your parents will not be torn apart by confliction like they have been, but instead brought together by love like they were once. No more fighting between the two of them. Your father will be promoted the next time he goes to work, so no move will be neccessary."

I practically had tears falling from my eyes at the good fortune that Sachiko was bestowing upon me. It proved that in all evil you will find some good hidden deep down inside. Sachiko was never a bad person. No. Not at all. She just missed her mother.

And the last part of Sachiko's gift. The part where she wouldn't be moving to another town or another school. She was going to be able to stay with Morishige at Kisiragi. That was all she could ever want.

"Sachiko...I can't thank you enough." I spoke through my tears, bending down to hug the young child.

"No need to thank me. It's my gift to you." She said, returning my hug.

"Thanks, anyway." I smiled, letting go.

"There's one thing I must do before I go." Sachiko stated.

"Yeah?"

"I must heal the scars of your death. Turn around so I can see your back, please."

I complied, feeling the warmth of her hand as she delicately lay a hand on my back. A slight twinge of pain followed, but it soon passed.

"And it's done," She pronounced, removing her hand. "Now I'll take my leave to the Mochida household next."

"Goodbye, Sachiko." I blurted out loud.

"Goodbye, Suzomoto." She said, opening the door to the classroom without the use of the key. "Have a happy life."

I stared in amazement as she left. So it was unlocked the whole time?


	7. Satoshi's Happy Ending (Satoshi & Yuka)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> P.O.V. from Satoshi to Yuka then back to Satoshi.
> 
> \- 54

Satoshi's P.O.V

I was sitting in my computer chair with a pencil in hand, with my legs propped up on the desk. I was doing absolutely nothing but looking up at the ceiling. All I could do was think about what had transpired a little over two hours ago.

We had done it. Heavenly Host was destroyed. Everyone and everything that was trapped in there to suffer for all eternity had been set free. I remember Shinozaki sitting Naomi, Kishinuma, Yuka, and I down to break the news about all of us having to set foot inside that hellish elementary school for the final time.

-Flashback-

Shinozaki had sent out a text to all of us, telling us to meet her at her house at four o'clock sharp that evening. Judging by the urgency of the message, something big was about to go down.

Kishinuma and Naomi were waiting for Yuka and I at the intersection downtown, so we could all walk to the class rep's house together. Kishinuma had surprisingly struck up a conversation with Yuka by asking her different questions about her. Like what her favorite subject in school was, her favorite TV show, what she wants to be when she grows up, and a bunch of other questions that she'd ask him in return.

I took the time to try and start a conversation with Naomi. For some reason she had been ignoring me recently. All the times I had tried to talk to her at school, she ignored me. All the texts, she never replied back. All the calls, I never got a single call back. What was her deal?

And once again my attempt at conversation with the short-haired girl FAILED miserably.

Every time I asked her a question, I'd be greeted with a small "Mhm", "I don't know", or complete silence. Something was upsetting her, and I knew the very thing that had done it: Shinohara's death.

Of course I couldn't find the right words to comfort her. Shinohara was gone, and there was nothing we could do to fix it, and if I told her that...she'd surely beat the living shit out of me.

Hopefully, our class rep could remedy that.

We soon arrived at Shinozaki's house with the pig-tailed girl leading us into her living room. Yuka and I taking a seat on the sofa, Naomi sitting in an easy chair, Kishinuma leaning on the wall with his arms crossed, and Shinozaki taking her spot front and center.

"I've called all of you here to discuss something. Something that will either make things better or make things worse than they already are." Shinozaki stated, crossing her arms.

"Go on." Kishinuma says, his attention focused on the class rep.

"I don't know if this will sit well with any of you, but..." She sighed and closed her eyes before going on. "We're going back inside Heavenly Host."

Everyone in the room had shared a shocking gasp. Everyone except Naomi and our class rep. I looked over at Naomi who had her legs crossed and her hands folded in her lap, looking at the floor in deep thought. Still quiet as ever.

Kishinuma was the first to speak up. "What?!"

"You heard me, Kishinuma. We have to go back." Shinozaki calmly spoke.

"Are you nuts, Shinozaki?! We had a hell of a time trying to keep ourselves alive in there the first time! If we go back now, then any one of us could die! Maybe more than that!" Kishinuma shouted, moving from the wall to where Shinozaki was standing.

"And that's a chance we have to be willing to take." The pig-tailed girl stated once again in a calm demeanor.

Kishinuma scoffed. "Mochida, back me up on this!"

Hearing my name being mentioned, I snapped away from Naomi to the argument between Kishinuma and Shinozaki. "What?"

"Tell Shinozaki that going back inside that hellhole is out of the question!" Kishinuma grabbed my shoulder roughly, and glared back at the class rep.

I took a minute to think this over. Of course it was out of the question. We barely escaped out of there alive, and going back would surely kill us off for good. I could see where Kishinuma was coming from on this. Him and I had noticed how the ones that had died were forgotten by the real world and it wasn't a good thing. I couldn't imagine my mom and dad not remembering that they had a son...

I turned to look at Yuka, whom had looked at me with knowing eyes. She knew we had to go back. It was the only way.

Or a daughter...

No, there had to be another way. There was no chance I was going to put Yuka and myself in harm's way again.

I slowly nodded my head. "It's a bad idea."

Shinozaki gaped. "Mochida? You're against it, too?"

I sighed. "Yeah, Shinozaki, I am."

"See?" Kishinuma broke in. "Even Mochida thinks it's too risky!"

"But, you two boys have to understand! We have to be willing to risk our lives in order to save our friends! They're counting on us!" Shinozaki tried reasoning with us.

"There's gotta be another way." I said, standing up from the couch with my arms crossed.

"Mochida, I'm sorry, but this is the only way there is," the class representative slowly stated. "I've checked for alternative solutions in the Book of Shadows, but it doesn't speak of any other ways."

I sighed, running my hands down my face in frustration

Kishinuma looked toward me then back to the class rep. "Count me out, Shinozaki."

"What?" She inquired. Shock written all over her face.

"I'm not going in there again." He repeated.

"Why?" She inquired once again.

The blonde boy guffawed. "Why? Because I wanna at least live into my adult years that's why."

"So, you're just gonna wimp out on us? Is that it?" She defended.

That struck a nerve inside Kishinuma, as he got up into the class rep's face. "Wimping out? I'M wimping out?!"

"Sure seems like it to me!" Shinozaki snapped, showing no signs of backing down.

"I'm NOT wimping out! I just so happen to value my life, unlike you!" Kishinuma shouted.

"No, you're just being chicken shit like you always are!" Shinozaki poked his shoulder with emphasis on the words "chicken shit".

"Onii-chan...?" I heard Yuka's quiet voice over their argument.

"Yes, Yuka?" I asked, running a hand through her hair.

"Yoshiki and Ayumi are scaring me..." She whimpered.

I looked at Yuka, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Then I looked over at Naomi who had closed her eyes tightly, her gaze still pointed towards the floor. Obviously beginning to become irritated from the argument that was taking place in the living room.

"Come on, Yuka," I rose up from the sofa, grabbing her hand. "We're going home."

"But, Onii-chan..." She tried to stop me, but I wasn't gonna hear any of it.

"No buts!" I half-shouted.

Yuka quickly closed her mouth and stood up from the sofa. We were almost out of the living room when Shinozaki had caught us.

"And where are you going?" She asked angrily.

"Home. I'm taking Yuka home." I replied sternly.

She guffawed. "Et tu, Mochida?"

I scoffed. "Look, Shinozaki, I have duties as a big brother. Which means keeping Yuka safe. I'm not taking her there again."

"Oh, you mean YOU'RE not going there again, right?" She accused.

"What?!" I shouted. "What are you trying to imply?!"

"Oh, nothing. Just that you and Kishinuma are supposed to be the men out of this little group when you're acting like two year olds!" Shinozaki argued.

"Two year olds?!" Kishinuma broke in yet again. "Mochida and I are the smart ones out of this group!"

"Kishinuma's right! We're not risking our lives going back there! That chapter is over! Yuka and I are going home, and that's it! End of discussion!" I yelled.

Shinozaki scoffed, running her hands over her face. "No, Mochida! This discussion is NOT over! You and Kishinuma are going with us whether you like it or not!"

"Like hell we are!" Kishinuma shouted.

"EVERYONE JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Shinozaki, Kishinuma, and I had paused our argument and turned to the short-haired girl that was sitting in the easy chair of the Shinozaki living room. Naomi had taken her gaze off the floor and pointed it toward us. An angry and irritated expression on her face.

"Are you kidding me?! Do you all think fighting like this will make things right?!" She scolded us.

Every one of us were silent. Mainly because we were surprised by the fact that Naomi was actually speaking coherent sentences for the first time in two months.

"And Satoshi? Have you no shame at all?! You're scaring poor little Yuka to death!"

I flinched at her words and looked behind me where Yuka was supposed to be standing, but she wasn't there. Instead I turned back around to see that she was sitting on the far side of the sofa with tears running down her face.

I closed my eyes, leaning on the door frame of the entrance to the hallway.

"And you!" She turned to Kishinuma, standing up from the chair in the process.

The blonde boy's face contorted in fear as he backed away slowly.

"You of all people, Kishinuma, have no right and I mean NO right to get up in the class rep's face like you did five minutes ago! I'd figured you'd have more respect for her than that!" She shouted angrily, stepping closer and closer to the young delinquent.

He backed into the wall, bracing himself in fear.

Naomi abruptly stopped when she got to Shinozaki's side. Her words this time were calm. "Now, I, for one, support her in this decision. There is no other alternative of bringing our friends back. And I believe that if there was an alternative, then the class rep would've found it. You two boys don't have to go. No one's asking you. But, I choose to go with Shinozaki because I want to help her get our friends back. You may not care about them anymore, but she and I do. Now, if you both would stop being so self-centered for a little bit and think about the others and how they're suffering right now..."

She paused before stating the names.

"Suzomoto."

I looked over at Kishinuma, whom had look like he'd been struck in the heart. Suzomoto had always been good to him. Whenever Shinozaki wasn't around to keep him out of trouble, Suzomoto was. She'd always help him see the bright side of things. As for me, she'd always cheer me up whenever I felt depressed on those days.

I remember once she said 'Mochida, the world is a good place to be, and some people don't realize it. That's why the world is the way it is today. Nothing but evil. But, if one day we all learned to love each other, then the evil would go away.'

Her kind words had always ignited a fire in my heart.

"Morishige."

Morishige had always considered Kishinuma and I to be a couple of his "good friends". He'd always lend a helping hand to Kishinuma whenever he needed his parents' names forged on a detention slip that he'd always get at least twice a week.

He'd always help me with my math homework and help me study for the tests, since it was my worst subject. I remember this one time he and I were partners for a biology project, and the teacher had given us the topic of "reptiles", which Morishige absolutely hated. He was totally against my idea of bringing a couple lizards to school even though they would be kept inside a terrarium. So, we came up with a plan. he would write out the research paper if I handled the lizards. Ended up with an A+.

"Ms. Yui."

Ms. Yui had done everything in her power to keep Kishinuma out of trouble. She was easier on him than most of the teachers were, which was one of the reasons why he liked her. She even got him out of being expelled from school when he picked a fight with this guy who had made a smartass comment about Shinozaki being our class representative. Kishinuma owed Ms. Yui everything.

I found her to be the best teacher that class 2-9 could've ever had. She understood every single one of us, and knew whenever something was wrong. She not only considered us as her students, but as her own children. That's what made her unique.

"Seiko..."

Naomi's voice cracked on that name. She looked down at the ground, closing her eyes to try fighting back a few tears as Shinozaki put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Naomi really grieved for the girl.

Kishinuma had always thought of Shinohara like a little sister, but he didn't let anyone know that he thought of her like that because it would make him look like a big softy. She had known about Kishinuma's crush on Shinozaki before he had told her about it, which had surprised him because he thought he had kept it hidden well.

Shinohara and I weren't really that close. I guess our relationship could've been classified as a 'If you're nice to me then I'm nice to you' sort of thing, though. It was no secret that she had a thing for Naomi that's for sure, but she also knew that I had a thing for Naomi as well. No, I didn't hate her for it. Not at all. And Shinohara acted like she didn't hate me either. But she was a girl, and girls tend to hide their feelings, right?

Naomi quickly regained her composure after a few soft and comforting pats on the shoulder by the class representative. "Just, please, put aside your fears and grow some balls. We have to get them back here with us, and going inside Heavenly Host is the only way to do that. They're counting on us. But, again, if you choose not to go, just remember what I'm about to say..."

She slowly moved away from the class rep's side and walked toward Kishinuma, stopping in front of him and looking him in the eye. "Kishinuma?"

He stayed silent, listening to what she was about to say.

She then moved from him, walking toward me. "Satoshi?"

I, too, was all ears for her words.

She slowly walked back towards the easy chair, stopping in front of it before she sat down, her back turned to us. "Just know that...they would all do the same thing for you."

She slowly took her seat in the chair once again, looking down at the floor in silence.

I looked over at Kishinuma, whose face had softened tremendously. He wasn't angry anymore, but he looked like he was about to cry. I must admit Naomi's words had pulled at my heart, as well. But, she was telling the truth. Suzomoto, Morishige, Ms. Yui, and Shinohara would all go to hell and back for Kishinuma and I. That's how strong our friendship was.

After a few minutes of complete silence, I sighed, speaking first. "Okay. Let's do it."

Shinozaki, Naomi, and Yuka then looked from me to Kishinuma, expecting his answer.

The blonde boy exhaled a sharp breath, reaching a hand behind him to scratch his head. "Why the hell not?"

Shinozaki smiled. "You know, we all couldn't have done this without the two of you."

"Yeah, whatever. Let's just get to crackin' so we can get 'em back already." Kishinuma said, trying to brush off the tender moment.

I looked over at Naomi to see that she had a smile on her face. I couldn't believe it. I haven't seen her smile for two months, yet here it was now. Seeing her happy brought an even bigger smile to my face.

-End of Flashback-

I stood up from the chair and exited my room, carefully making my way towards Yuka's room to check on her. I slowly opened the door and peeked inside. She was laying in the bed with her arms laying hap-hazardly, her mouth wide open producing a loud snore. The poor kid was tired. She had been asleep since we took Shinozaki to the hospital.

I smiled when I saw that the young girl had began sucking her thumb in her sleep. I knew she was too old for that, but she'd grow out of it sometime.

I slowly closed the door, careful not to wake her, and walked back to my room. As I entered inside and shut the door behind me, I made my way over to the only window in my room.

Whenever I had things to think about, I'd go up to the roof and sit down for a bit. All the space and the fresh air assisted me in clearing my head. Perfect for solitude.

I raised open the window and climbed outside. Careful not to fall, I made my way upwards, sitting down on the hip of the roof. I clutched my knees, looking up into the night sky at the many stars that were out.

I whistled in amazement. "I bet Shinohara is having a field day, tonight."

Seemed like that girl couldn't get enough of the stars. I could bet anyone a twenty that she could name every constellation that had been discovered in the last two centuries. Now, I had to admit that I was impressed by her vast array of knowledge when it came to that subject, and it also seemed that Naomi was impressed with her as well.

A gentle breeze began to arise. Feeling it blow through my hair, I closed my eyes.

That's when I started thinking of Naomi.

Naomi truly is a great girl, and I mean that. There has never been a person that has captivated me like she has. But, how could you not be captivated by Naomi? I mean she's intelligent, funny, kind-hearted, and pretty. Now, don't get me wrong, she did have her flaws. One of them being her whiny attitude when she gets stressed. But, of course, we all react in different ways toward stress, so it's not her fault. Then there were times when her good qualities could become her enemies. For example, her kind-heart could give her hell sometimes...like when Shinohara passed away.

I bent my head forward to rest my chin on my knees.

She had taken Shinohara's death hard. Extremely hard. It hurt my feelings to see her suffer the way she did. And the worst part about it was that I had no idea of how to comfort her.

Do you have any idea what it's like to see someone you love go through hell? And you have no idea what to say to make them feel better because you're afraid you'll screw up and make it worse for them? That's what I felt. It made me feel like a complete idiot.

But, the very thing that had pained my heart the most was that she never talked to me, or anyone else for that matter. Normally, Naomi was a very talkative girl and loved to speak her opinion on anything. That was the one of the few things that caused her and I to butt heads here and there. Shinozaki had once stated that people dealt with grief in different ways. In Naomi's case, she wouldn't wanna talk or be around anyone until she got over the demise of her best friend. The pain and grief had brought her to her weakest point, and there was nothing any of us could do. Except maybe attempt to get Shinohara and the rest back here with us.

The breeze grew stronger which sent a chill into the air. I pulled up the collar of my white button up shirt to shield me from the cold.

I think the part that ripped out the rest of what was left of Naomi's heart was when we went back there and found out that Shinohara wasn't exactly herself anymore. The school got to her before we did, and it turned out to be the biggest pain in the ass situation we ever faced. Naomi was a mess, but she suddenly turned into this head-strong hero. It had shocked all of us.

Funny thing was that whenever we came around Shinohara when she was in that state, I was always her first choice as a target. I don't know why, either. She really gave me hell, I'll admit that. And my shoulder still hurts from where she chucked me into Naomi and Kishinuma.

I rubbed my sore shoulder, cringing as I thought about the pain I felt when it happened.

Plus, I'm pretty sure the both of them didn't feel so hot on the recieving end of the impact, either.

Anyway, to make a long story short, we managed to appease her and get her body back. That was when she disappeared down the hall with an injured Naomi.

I'm pretty sure they were gone for over half an hour. We were all beginning to wonder where they wandered off to, but then they appeared in the doorway with Shinohara attached to Naomi's side like always.

But, it seemed...different this time.

The both of them were holding hands. Suzomoto had seen it, too, because she had gently elbowed me in the side and asked me if I saw it as well, to which I replied "yes". Then I heard the green-eyed girl giggle and mention about how cute they were.

At first, I had brushed it off as them just being the best friends like they were. Sometimes two girls that are best friends will hold hands, right? But, then I began to take notice of the things they would share when no one was looking.

They would steal these glances at each other, and they weren't exactly friendly. No, maybe I shouldn't call them glances. I think "gazes" would be the better word. Anyway, these gazes weren't the friendly kind. No. They looked...romantic-like or something.

That's when I began to think that a lot more went on inside the infirmary than they let on. And I mean a LOT more.

The breeze finally died down. Fixing my collar back, I took a big breath and sighed.

Naomi had finally broken the news to me when she and I had split up from Shinohara and the others inside Heavenly Host. I don't feel like going into any details about the conversation, so to make a long story short, she had chosen to be with Shinohara instead of me.

I sniffled, fighting back a few tears.

It had torn me apart. Naomi was my first love, and she told me she was in love with someone else. It just...hurt...a lot. It felt like someone had hit me in the heart with a giant hammer.

Yet, there was a part of me that was happy for the two girls. Shinohara had gotten her wish fulfilled of Naomi returning her feelings, which was a rarity in a situation like that. And Naomi truly was happy. That was the most important thing. Her happiness.

I do want her to be happy, even if it's not with me. And Shinohara seems to make her happy, doesn't she?

I looked up at the moon, tears streaming down my face. It was a full moon. Something I haven't seen in ages. This very being in the sky was my only companion tonight, save for the stars.

"Naomi, I love you!" I shouted towards the moon. "There will always be a part of me that loves you!"

I then lowered my voice to a whisper, looking down at my feet. "Take care of her, Shinohara. I know you'll do your best."

I saw a tear fall on my knee, soaking a small part of my school slacks.

There was a saying here. It went something like: if you love something, then you should set it free.

I smiled through my tears. Yes, Naomi was happy. You could see it in her face she was. All because of Shinohara. I knew in my heart that she would be good to Naomi.

I finally accepted it. Naomi wasn't meant to be mine. And strangely...I'm okay.

That's when I started thinking about my friends. Fate had brought them together. Shinozaki and Kishinuma. Suzomoto and Morishige. Naomi and Shinohara. The more I thought about it, the more I felt sad.

That's when I looked up at the moon once again, speaking to it like it were a person.

"Everyone else has gotten their happy ending. What about me?" I whispered.

My only answer was through silence, as I rested my head on my knees once again.

Yuka's Dream (Yuka's P.O.V)

There was a strange aroma in the air. It smelled of rain and something else that was foreign to me.

I sniffed the air again. It smelled...leafy. Plants, maybe?

I sat up from the ground, rubbing my eyes. My vision was blurry, so I rubbed them again. Opening my eyes this time, I saw that I was sitting on a forest floor.

I let out an ear-piercing shriek that made the blirds fly out of the trees.

"Onii-chan!" I hollered, my voice echoing throughout the trees.

No answer.

"Onii-chan!"

Again, no answer. Only silence.

I sank down up against a tree and started weeping. How could I be here? I remember being in the hospital when we took Ayumi to the hospital, and I fell asleep in Onii-chan's lap. That's all I remember.

Was I dreaming? No, I couldn't be. It was all too real.

I sniffled, wiping my nose on my sleeve. Looking around, I noticed that the silhouettes of the trees had became taller, indicating that the sun was going down.

"Onii-chan, where are you?" I whimpered.

All of a sudden, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and let out another shriek, only to have my mouth covered up by another hand.

"Shhhhh! You wanna wake up the animals?"

I quickly turned around, and my jaw dropped to the ground.

Sachiko Shinozaki was standing in front of me. Not in a red dress, but a white one. She seemed to be happy about something.

"H-huh?" I stammered. "What are y-you doing here?"

"Can't explain it here. Come with me." She calmly commanded, holding out her hand.

Normally, this would've ignited a fear within me, but this time...I wasn't afraid. Odd.

"O-okay." I complied, taking her hand.

As quick as I had grabbed her hand, we were standing on some sort of plateau, overlooking the forest with a great view of the sun setting on the horizon.

"Wow." Was all I managed to speak.

"Mhm," Sachiko agreed. "Beautiful isn't it?"

"Yeah." I replied, looking by my side to see Sachiko sitting on the ground, Indian style.

"Well, don't just stand there. Sit down." She patted the ground beside her.

I did just that, mirroring her position. All was silent for a while, then the younger girl spoke up.

"Take it easy, young Mochida. I'm not here to hurt you." She said, not taking her gaze off the sunset.

"Wha-? Did you just-?" I turned my gaze to her, my mouth open in shock.

Sachiko giggled. "Yes, I can read your thoughts."

"How? And please don't call me 'Mochida'. That's what everyone calls Onii-chan. You can call me Yuka if you'd like."

"That's fine, young Yuka. And to answer your question, this is a dream. Your thoughts are easily readable here."

"They are?" I repeated.

"Yes," Sachiko confirmed. "Like I also can see that you are troubled by my sudden appearance."

"What tells you that?"

She pointed into the far point of the sky. I followed her finger towards a small thunderstorm that was beginning to form in the distance.

I gasped in astonishment. "Wow."

Sachiko then looked from the sky directly to me. "I will leave shortly, but first I need to give you the gifts that I have planned to give you."

"Gif-gifts? For what?" I asked.

Sachiko turned her attention from the sunset to me.

"Let's just say for cleaning up my mess. So, here it is, young Yuka: You will grow up and out of the crush you have on your older brother. You will meet someone else, and fall in love. Your husband will be great to you and your future children. You're wish of becoming a bride will be fulfilled."

I blushed when she mentioned the crush I had on Onii-chan. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't help it. The heart wants what the heart wants after all. But, I had to accept the fact that Satoshi was my brother. We had a family bond. A bond that would bind us together for all of eternity. Not as lovers, but as brother and sister. There was, indeed, someone else out there for me. I just haven't gotten there yet...but I will.

I felt this sudden pang of happiness at her words. "Th-thank you, Sachiko."

"Hey, it's the least I could do." She said, smiling again.

I watched as she stood up on her feet.

"Wait, where are you going?" I asked, standing up with her.

"Well, I think I might go see what Onii-chan is up to, hm?" She replied, winking at me.

"Oh...you can't stay for a little bit?"

Sachiko looked down at the ground, a sad expression graced her facial features. "I wish I could. It'd be nice to have a friend to talk to, you know?"

My face fell into a sad expression as well. It would've been nice to have someone besides Onii-chan to sit around and talk to. "Oh."

She quickly recovered from her sadness. "Welp! I should be going! My last stop is your brother, then my debt to all of you will be paid."

"Yeah." I said glumly.

There was a silence between Sachiko and I.

"I could come back and visit you every once in a while." Sachiko began.

I lifted my head to make eye contact with the girl. "Huh?"

"I'll stop by here whenever you want. If you need someone to talk to I mean."

I smiled. "That would be great!"

Sachiko returned the smile. "It's settled then. Well, I shall take my leave, young Yuka. Be safe and have a good life, hm?"

And on that note she vanished.

I looked to the sky to see that the thunderstorm was almost here, and it would soon be pouring down. But, as soon as Sachiko vanished, it began to dissapate as well. Then the unthinkable began happening.

The sun began to come back up into the sky as if time was rewinding itself. The shining rays of the sun soon glared off of the emerald-colored trees, and a rainbow appeared out of nowhere. And there was NO rain around whatsoever.

"Huh." I said out loud, scratching my head. "I thought you needed rain for a rainbow."

Satoshi's Dream (Satoshi's P.O.V)

I still sat on the roof of my house, staring at the moon and the stars that had been out tonight. The wind had stopped abruptly, which was strange because the forecast called for it to be unbelievably windy tonight.

I breathed in my nose and out my mouth, enjoying the solitude and the fresh air of the night. All the lights in the houses had been shut off. No one was up at this time of night, except for me. I pulled out my phone to check the time.

12:04 AM.

"I need to go to bed," I declared out loud. "But, I don't want to yet."

I looked over to see a rock that had somehow gotten up here, and picked it up. As I inspected it, I found it not to be just any ordinary rock. It was some sort of gemstone, but I couldn't tell what it was because I couldn't see it's luster in the dark. Then an idea struck inside my mind.

I held the gem up into the moonlight. The gemstone shined with a red tint. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that this was, indeed, a ruby. My birthstone.

"How did you get up here?" I said quietly to both myself and the gemstone.

"Surely you know why, don't you, Mochida?"

I was startled by the sudden voice. The voice of a child's. I immediately felt a stab of fear. "Wh-who's there?"

The voice giggled. "Turn around and see for yourself."

I exhaled the breath that I had been holding the whole time, and slowly turned around. I know my face had to turn it's color, as I witnessed seeing the face of Sachiko Shinozaki, and let out the GIRLIEST scream you could ever imagine. I'm pretty sure it put Naomi's, Shinohara's, Suzomoto's, and Shinozaki's screams to shame.

Sachiko, whom was sitting down beside me, stared at me in shock. "Was that your scream I just heard?"

I blushed in embarrasment, breathing in and out rapidly. "Nevermind that! Wha-what are you doing here?!"

"Quiet, Mochida!" She commanded in a whisper.

"Oh, sorry!" I apologized in a hushed tone. "What are you doing here?"

"I've made an appearance in your dream so I can spill back what you and your friends have spilled for me." Sachiko replied.

My face quickly contorted into shock whenever she said the word "spill". It made me think of the blood that was spilled inside Heavenly Host. Sachiko quickly realized this.

"Let me rephrase that," She laughed nervously. "I've came to let you know that I'm willing to let bygones be bygones between us."

I quickly calmed down. "Oh...that explains things."

Sachiko nodded her head, then eyed my hands. "Let me see what you found there, Mochida."

I looked at the ruby that I had forgotten I was holding in my hands. I held it up in the moonlight for the ebony-haired girl to see.

"A ruby, huh? You know what a ruby represents? Besides the fact that you were born in July like myself?" She asked.

I shook my head.

Sachiko smiled. "It is the stone of nobility. The most magnificent of all gems. The queen of stones and the stone of kings. It is believed to be the most precious of all stones. The value of this stone alone exceeds the value of a handful of diamonds."

I stayed silent, as she continued.

"There are three things that the ruby represents: Passion, protection, and prosperity. Three things that you possess."

I looked from Sachiko to the ruby that I held in my hands. "I do?"

Sachiko nodded her head, smiling. "Indeed you do. You have passion for your friends and everything that you do, you protect your younger sister from many dangers, and you will prosper greatly for many years to come."

I looked up at the moon, as the wind started to blow. "None of that came in handy at all back there."

"Why of course it did, Mochida! You played the most important role!" The child crossed her arms, joining me in looking at the moon.

I turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow. "I did?"

"Yes. Your passion helped your friends strive to go on even when they wanted to give up. You protected Yuka and your friends when they needed it the most. You gave prosperity to Nakashima by letting her be with Shinohara."

"Y-you know about that?!"

"I know everything." Sachiko grinned.

I looked down at the ground, feeling the wind blow against me. "I still love her."

Sachiko layed a hand on my shoulder. "I know you do. But, you will find someone better. It's part of my gift to you."

"A gift?"

"Let's let bygones be bygones, Mochida. I must give you a gift for fixing my mistakes. Not only because I am in debt to you and your friends, but because I want to."

"I'm all ears."

"You're gonna be married in a few years after you graduate from school. Your wife will be great, and you will have three kids. You will grow up to be a great leader, like you already are. As for what you want to do when you get older, that's your choice. But, whatever you choose, you will prosper greatly."

I smiled at the child's proclamation. "Thank you, but what about Yuka?"

Sachiko smiled. "Your sister's own wishes will be fullfilled, don't worry about her at all."

"I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say we can't thank you enough, Sachiko." I said.

"No need for thanks, Mochida," She patted my head. "Well, I guess I should be going home."

The young girl stood up and began walking away.

"Wait!" I called out.

She stopped abruptly, peering over her shoulder. "Yes?"

"Where you going?"

She paused before answering. "Mommy is waiting on the other side. Thank you and goodbye, Mochida."

And she was gone.

I looked down at the ruby again, and held it up to the moonlight once more. The luster and sparkle were both brighter than ever.


	8. Seiko's Dream (Naomi & Seiko)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seiko P.O.V.

Seiko's P.O.V

I lie awake in bed watching her sleep. I felt like if I didn't keep an eye on her while she slept, she'd stop breathing. And that's the last thing I'd want to happen.

I felt a smile tugging up the corners of my mouth when I heard Naomi begin to let out a soft snore. It was the cutest thing I had ever heard. Poor thing was tired.

I slightly raised up, careful not to disturb the sleeping girl, to look at the clock that sat on her nightstand.

3:22 AM.

I threw my head back and let out a small groan. I had only gotten like three hours of sleep. And once I woke up in the middle of the night, I could NOT go back to sleep.

I looked again at the short-haired girl that was sleeping beside me. She was rolled over on her left side, facing me, and her mouth was slightly ajar with the softest snore coming from her.

I smiled, reaching a hand over to stroke her hair. Well, since I wouldn't be getting anymore sleep for the rest of the night, then I could at least look after Naomi while she did, right?

But first I think I'll pop downstairs into the kitchen and have a glass of water. Throat's kinda parched.

Letting out a yawn, I gently pushed back the covers and raised up to sit on the edge of the bed. I looked back at Naomi once more to see if my movements had awakened her, but thankfully she was still knocked out.

I set my sights on Naomi's dresser, where I had lain my phone and my uniform before going to bed. I carefully stood up, taking a stretch and another yawn before moving toward it. Snatching up my phone, I opened it to see one new message from Kishinuma. It said:

_Docs just took 4 tubes of blood from Shinozaki. Still out cold. U guys make it home ok?_

I cringed at the thought of Shinozaki being put through all of that. She knew what the consequences would be if she brought us back, but yet she went through with it anyway. With that in mind, I replied to Kishinuma's text:

_Naomi & I made it home just fine! ^_^ No need to worry ur head about it, Kishinuma! Tell Ms. Yui I said hiiii! :3_

Closing my phone and tossing it haphazardly back onto my folded uniform, I slipped out of Naomi's room, and crept down the hall, passing Mrs. Nakashima's bedroom door, which was closed tight. I came across the stairs and slowly stepped down one by one, careful not to make any noise. Then suddenly, when I got to the fifth step down at the bottom...

_CREEEEAAK._

With wide eyes and clenched teeth, I turned my head quickly to look back at the two rooms that had occupied both Naomi and her mother. Not a sound from either one. The loud noise did not wake them up. Taking a sigh of relief, I continued down the stairs and entered the kitchen.

Mrs. Nakashima took Obsessive Compulsive Disorder to a whole nother level. Every single cup was lined up neatly in rows inside the cabinets, and they were color coordinated! Inside the other cabinet, the plates and bowls had been seperated into seperate stacks according to color as well. The counters had been scrubbed thoroughly, as was the stove. Floor had been swept and mopped recently. Probably before she hit the sack for the night.

I whistled in amazement, then I spoke out loud to no one but myself, "Now I see where Naomi gets her neatness from!"

I reached inside the cabinet and pulled out a pink cup. Naomi's favorite color.

I sighed in a dreamy way as I made my way over to the tap and turned the water on. Watching the water spill into the cup, I thought of everything that had happened tonight. A smile appeared on my face.

Like Naomi had confirmed earlier, it was all over and done with. Heavenly Host had been wiped out completely! Our little Shinozaki had done it! She came swooping in like Robin Hood and saved all of us from that awful place! I think I speak for Ms. Yui, Morishige, Suzume, and myself when I say we will always be forever grateful to the class rep! Now, maybe, just maybe, everything would go back to normal!

That's when I remembered. The thought made my smile cast itself downward. Not everything would go back to normal. No.

I felt at the scar that had emblazened itself around my neck. It had been there since Shinozaki had given me my life back. It was a pink, almost transparent scar, very hard to see. Naomi didn't notice it, and I'm glad she didn't. I don't want her worrying about this, too. She has enough problems right now.

I immediately felt a cold substance running down my fingers, snapping me out of my thoughts. I was so wrapped up in my thinking that my cup had ran over.

I poured out some of the water from the cup into the drain and shut the tap off. Taking a long gulp, I thought about how this second round in Heavenly Host had costed my friends dearly.

Shinozaki had been drained completely. A part of her soul had been taken from her in order for our return. And as of right now, she was sleeping her life away with no one having any idea of when she'd wake up. A coma is nothing to joke about. Not even for me.

I pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and sat down, taking another sip of the water.

Naomi had lost sight in her eye. And it was all because she participated in the first attempt of the resurrection ritual with Shinozaki. She would have to live her life wearing that medical eye patch.

I leaned back in the chair and sighed. I felt awful that they had to pay that gruesome of a price for getting us back. It was unfair, but then again has anything ever been fair?

Another sip of water.

I rubbed at the scar on my neck, once again. I'd always remember. Remember that time. The time that Naomi hung me. Of course it would be something I'd always remember even without the scar.

I looked up at the ceiling in thought.

Naomi...she felt like absolute shit about it. She still holds that against herself, and she probably will for the rest of her life. But, at least she knows that I won't hold it against her. I forgave her for it because I knew in my heart that she wasn't herself when she had done it. There's no way I could hold a grudge against her forever. No, scratch that. There's no way I'd hold a grudge against her, PERIOD. I loved her too much to do something like that.

I downed the rest of the water in one gulp, then stood up from the chair to put the cup into the sink.

Ever since we were kids, Naomi and I have been best friends. And, you know something? That's what I considered us at first. Just friends. But then something happened. We were in the third grade, and it was right around the time when my mom went missing. Some boy on the playground made a smartass comment about my mom, and made me cry. I don't remember what he said, but I remember what I had felt like after he'd said it. Naomi came up to me and asked me why I was crying, and I told her. Next thing I know, she had walked up to the boy and punched him straight in the eye. Now, it had shocked me because I had never expected Naomi to be a fighter. Yeah, of course she got in trouble for it, but so did he. His punishment was worse than hers, though. I think she got a week's worth of detention and he got like a month's worth. And after all of that happened, that was the day.

The day I fell in love.

With a girl.

With Naomi.

My best friend.

I smiled at the memory, as I pushed the chair back into the table. I felt bad about it at first, you know? Society says that love is only between a man and a woman. I was too scared to act on my feelings because I grew up knowing that it was wrong. When it's ironic that society is the one that's wrong. I fell in love with a girl because she stuck up for me when no one else would. Even after she had done that, I began falling for her more and more. Her smile. Her laugh. Her soft skin. Everything about her.

Then we began getting older, which meant the hormones began developing. Naomi's chest got bigger, and I'd find myself constantly staring at it...and having these strange urges to touch her. So, you know, I got curious one day and decided to test the waters. Of course, she had slapped me and hugged me and apologized repeatedly after that, but do you blame her? Plus, from that day forward, her chest had always been one of my horny fixations.

Enter Satoshi Mochida.

I sighed as I leaned frontwards against the sink and clasped my hands together. Ever since that boy came to Kisiragi Academy in the seventh grade, Naomi had been head over heels for him. At first, I didn't like him one bit. All because Naomi liked him. But, then he started coming around, and I found out that he was sort of a nice guy. We weren't close friends at all. Oh, no. We didn't talk to each other, unless we sat with each other at lunch, or maybe give a casual "hi" in the hallways, every now and then. But, no closeness at all. I knew it was wrong to be envious and jealous of the guy, but how could I not be? He had Naomi's full attention. Something I thought I never had.

Do you have any idea what it's like to fake a smile everyday for the sake of your own friend's happiness?

Man, do I ever.

I closed my eyes tightly as I felt the tears began to form.

It pained me to see her all lovey-dovey over Mochida. It really did. But, my feelings didn't matter. The only thing that mattered to me was Naomi's happiness. And it made her happy to talk about him, so I listened.

Then Shinozaki introduced us to the Sachiko Ever After charm. Boy, was that a big mistake. Of course, you couldn't blame the class rep because she didn't know that it would send us to a place like Heavenly Host. None of us did.

I had never been so afraid in my entire life. I'm pretty sure Hell was a better place, and that says alot, doesn't it? But, I couldn't let my fear get the best of me. I had to be strong. For Naomi. But, you all already know that story.

The whole time we were in there, I contemplated confessing to her. I felt like I had to, because I just had a feeling that something bad was gonna happen to one of us. I never got to tell her how I felt, because fate caught up with me.

I felt the tears stream down my cheeks and heard the plop of them falling into the sink.

I'm gonna spare you all the details. You all know about how I stayed with her even after death. The "No Hard Feelings" text. You know all of that. It's too painful to bring back up those memories.

Of course, they all had to leave. Naomi, Shinozaki, Kishinuma, and the Mochidas. They had to leave us behind. No, they didn't want to, but they had no choice. It seemed to them that all hope was lost at getting us back into the real world. But, not only were they the ones that were devastated, we were, too.

Ms. Yui, Morishige, Suzume, and I.

Left to wander aimlessly around the cursed school for all eternity. The pain of it all was excruciating. Suzume wandered around the school looking for Morishige. Her face nothing but a void of what used to be there. Morishige roamed through the halls, calling out to Suzume after every ten seconds. Ms. Yui's spirit roamed around in Classroom 2-A, wondering out loud if her students back at Kisiragi were okay. As for me, well...

My silent tears turned into a weeping sob. I covered my mouth with my hand, as I wept into the sink.

I wandered the halls, too. Thinking of no one, but her. Naomi. I wondered if she was okay. Did she miss me? Did she grieve for me? Was she happy knowing that Mochida was okay?

That very subject: Mochida. That very subject was enough for the Darkening to overpower me. It knew that I had somewhat of a dislike for the boy, and it cashed in on my vulnerability, making me grow to hate him. It also made my feelings for Naomi grow from love to extreme hatred. I hated her for not seeing that I was in love with her. I hated her for being in love with Mochida. And those feelings weren't under my control anymore, they were under the control of the Darkening.

I bent down further into the sink, letting more of the tears fall into it.

Then, somehow, I sensed their second arrival. They were back inside the school again, and this time it wasn't by accident. They had entered with a goal in mind. The determination radiating from the group was palpable. That was when my soul began acting under the dark commands and made me a road block in their path. I tried to stop myself, but I couldn't. It was too powerful. All I could do was watch myself torture my friends.

The craziest thing about it all is that there were times that I remembered and times that I didn't. Like I remember hurling Mochida across the room, but I don't remember choking Naomi. Weird, huh?

I raised myself upright and wiped the remainder of the tears from my eyes. That's all I needed: red, puffy, swollen eyes at four o'clock in the morning. Great.

But, I can't help it. It's not healthy to bottle up emotions. Ha! Listen to me! What the hell do I know?! I've kept my emotions toward Naomi bottled up inside for years!

I peeked around the corner to look up the staircase. No, I didn't feel like going back to bed yet. Not when I was in a serious state of emotion like I was now. I could be in bed beside Naomi and accidentally let a sob slip out and wake her up. Didn't feel like being bombarded by her questions so early this morning.

I decided to take a seat at the kitchen table again, so I could regain my composure and clear up the puffiness of my eyes. I leaned onto the table, resting my chin on my fist.

The only thing that I can clearly remember from all of that is waking up and seeing Naomi's face. Her beautiful, flawless face. Contorted in a mix of worry, sadness, and pain. It was then and there that I let out all of my emotions as I cried into her, and she cried with me. That was when I noticed her eye...and her arm.

I had truly felt bad for my short-haired love. She had suffered in silence those passed two months, keeping her grief hidden inside herself from Mochida and the others. Indeed, she had been the one to be traumatized the most.

I immediately started sobbing again, laying my head down on the table, shoulders trembling.

Why did we all have to go through that?! Was God punishing us for our sins?! Was fate just screwing around with us?! I mean WHY?!

I sniffled a few times, wiping my nose on my pajama sleeve. I needed to stop the weeping...but I couldn't. I wanted to just let it all out.

And besides...I'm pretty sure Naomi and I are not the only ones who shed a few tears tonight.

See, when Naomi and I had our talk earlier in the evening, I wanted nothing more than to just breakdown and have her hold me while I did it...but...no...I had to be strong...for her. Like I always have.

I smiled through my tears.

That was one of the few good things that happened tonight: Naomi was finally mine. Not Mochida's. Mine.

Naomi...she's my everything. Always has been. I never want her to leave me. Ever.

There has always been a spark there between us. Ever since we first met. I never realized it until the third grade. And I hoped and prayed everyday that Naomi would realize it, as well. Heh, I guess my prayers have been answered.

I love her. I love her so much, dammit.

My thoughts then drifted to the person that had been my competition for her affections, and I immediately felt a pang of sadness for him. Sighing to myself, I wandered aloud. "Wonder how you're holding up, Mochida."

I did kinda feel sorry for the boy. The tables had turned, causing him to be in my shoes now. I know Naomi's rejection had hurt him, because I had heard the hurt in his voice. See, Naomi told me that Mochida needed to know her decision, and she thought it would be best if it were to come from her, not me. So when she took him to a private place to talk, I eavesdropped on their conversation. They still don't know I did, either.

Poor little guy. I knew it killed him on the inside.

Drying my eyes with my sleeve, I stood up and walked back over to the sink, looking out the window at the sky. The stars were still shining as bright as when Naomi and I left the hospital. I loved the stars, and there's a reason for that, you know?

I leaned down and propped my elbows up on the sink, resting my chin in my hands.

It all started when my mom left. Her departure devastated all of us. Of course, Dad had took it to heart, as did I. Yuu, Kei, and Aya didn't understand it then, but they understand it now. I remember looking out into the sky at night and seeing all of these pretty lights, and, in a way, I felt close to my mom.

I don't care what her reason was for leaving...I just wanted her to come back home. Every night since she left, I sat outside and looked up into the sky and hoped that wherever she is...she was doing the same.

Now, things have changed. She was never coming home to us. No. I finally realized that a few years ago, and it was time for me to take responsibilty as the oldest child. I busted my ass for my family, and I do not regret it one bit. All that cooking, cleaning, sewing, washing, and scrubbing I did helped shape me into the person I am today. Yes, I do crack a few jokes here and there, but I do have my responsibilites. And someday, if my mom does come back, I can show her how better of a motherly figure I am than she ever was.

Maybe, just maybe, Naomi and I will have kids of our own someday...

I can't think about that now, though. No way. We're sixteen.

I smiled again, keeping my eyes on the patterns of the stars. Thinking about her. She was finally mine. That was one thing worth waiting on.

I remembered what Naomi said earlier about feeling close to me through the stars. How she would go out almost every night to gaze into the night sky and feel me there. Maybe that was our connection? The stars.

Maybe we were all connected in some way through them? Naomi, Shinozaki, the Mochidas, Kishinuma, Suzume, Morishige, Ms. Yui, and I?

It was a possibility.

"Seiko?"

My ears perked up at the sleepy voice, causing me to turn around.

Naomi was standing there at the entranceway of the kitchen, near the stairs. Her hair was disheveled from laying in the bed. A bed-head I guess you could call it. Her eyes were squinted where she had just woken up. And her pajamas were disheveled as well.

"Yes, Naomi?" I replied.

She yawned. "Why are you up so early? It's four thirty in the morning."

I looked away from her, turing my attention to the drain of the sink. "Couldn't sleep."

She walked over to me and caught me in a hug from behind. "What's the matter?"

I sighed, stroking her hands with mine. "Nothing's the matter."

I didn't wanna lie to her, but I knew she was tired, which meant she'd soon give up on the questioning and go back to bed.

"Promise?" She yawned again.

I turned around and gave her a deep kiss on the lips. "Promise."

"Come back to bed." She begged in a quiet tone, hugging me.

I held her close, stroking her hair. God, I love this woman. Every single time I lied awake in bed at night all those years imagining moments like this...and, it was finally a reality. I love her. I love her. I love her. And she loves me. I can finally say that she loves me back.

"Alright, lead the way." I smiled.

She took me by the hand and led me up the steps, back into her room, where we climbed back into bed and fell back asleep in peace.

Seiko's Dream (Still Seiko's P.O.V)

The smell of the salty ocean waters hit my nostrils, as I inhaled the fresh air. I was standing on what looked to be some kind of ship, leaning on the railing, looking out into the distance at what appeared to be an island. The wind blowing through my hair.

I closed my eyes, taking another breath of air and softly exhaling. It was all so relaxing, but the chill of the wind was extremely cold.

I shivered once, crossing my arms at my chest for warmth, still leaning on the ship's railing.

As I closed my eyes once more, I heard the sound of footsteps come up behind me and stop next to me on my right.

"It's a little chilly out here."

My eyes slowly opened. I knew that voice. There wasn't a doubt in my mind as to who the child-like voice belonged to: Sachiko Shinozaki.

I didn't feel the need to scream or run from her. I felt...at peace here.

"Sure is," I replied. "Wished I had a jacket or a coat or something."

"Here you go." The child said, holding up a black hoodie to me.

Where did she get that? Oh well, best not to question her.

"Aw, thanks!" I smiled, sliding the hoodie over my head.

Sachiko giggled. "No problem."

I lifted the hood up over my head and pulled the drawstrings, careful not to completely cover my face. My cold-as-ice hands found their way into the pockets. The numbness soon began to leave my fingers as the warmth began circulating.

"I can feel my fingers again!" I joked, making Sachiko let out another giggle.

Silence fell between us, as we both turned to stare at the island in the distance.

A few minutes passed, then Sachiko spoke. "You know why I'm here, Shinohara?"

I turned to look at the girl and shook my head. "Not a clue. I thought that when Shinozaki destroyed the school, you broke free completely. Why are you still here?"

Sachiko looked down at the cool, blue waters. Her expression turned into a sad one. "Yes, it's true. I have broken free of the school, but not of this world. Until I fulfill my debt to you and your friends, I must remain here on earth."

I raised an eyebrow. "A debt? What kind of debt?"

The wind finally died down, and the frigidness faded. Sachiko spoke, keeping her gaze on the ocean water. "I feel terrible about the horrible things that I did to you and your friends."

I felt complete sympathy for the girl. "Oh. I understand now."

Sachiko sighed. "Do you, Shinohara? Do you really?"

I remained silent, unable to come up with an immediate answer.

"Just as I thought," The girl said in a sad tone. "No one will be able to understand, Shinohara. Even I can barely comprehend my actions."

My silence was prolonged, as I could not bring myself to speak anymore. I felt so sorry for the young girl. But, she was right. I couldn't understand why she did it, and I don't think I could ever bring myself to understand. She tortured us, but she knows that it was wrong now. That's all that matters.

I joined her in looking into the water. Our reflections looking back at us.

"So," Sachiko interrupted the silence. "You love her?"

I quickly snapped my gaze away from the water toward her. "Huh?"

"You know who I'm talking about." Sachiko winked.

My cheeks reddened. "Oh. Well...yeah I do. Very much."

"And she loves you?"

"Yes."

The ebony-haired girl grinned. "Can't say I never saw it coming."

Now I was shocked. "W-what?"

Sachiko turned around to lean her back on the railing. "When you and your friends came into Heavenly Host, I could already feel the love you all shared. The bond you and Nakashima shared was the strongest of all. In other words, I could feel how strong your love was for the girl. Yet, she never realized how much you loved her, until...well...I think you have a good idea of what made her realize, don't you, Shinohara?"

I slowly nodded, as I pulled the hood off my head. "I do."

"When you passed, I felt the agony of Nakashima's grief. Not the grief of losing a friend, but the grief of losing a lover. That's when I knew that she had been in love with you all this time, and the clincher is that she never realized it. Then her heart began to feel conflicted between you and the Mochida boy. That's why she stayed silent those two months after leaving Heavenly Host. No, it wasn't all because of the trauma. No. That was only part of it. She stayed in silence because of the fact that she had the hardest time trying to choose between you and him."

I looked over at her again, feeling tears begin to develop in my eyes. I never meant to put Naomi in that kind of situation. If I had known all of that...

"Don't blame yourself, Shinohara," Sachiko interrupted my thoughts. "The heart is very complex."

"Yeah, ain't that the truth." I said under my breath.

"Indeed. But, hey?" Sachiko said, taking hold of my hand.

I looked at the child expecting an answer.

"It all turned out well in the end, right?" She grinned.

I couldn't help but grin back. "Yes, I guess it did."

Sachiko sighed a bit, and we drifted off into silence. Heh, Naomi hated absolute silence. She'd always come up with the craziest topics in order to keep the conversation alive. That was the one of the things I found admirable about her.

"I think I have an idea of what I wanna do for you, Shinohara," She spoke, letting go of the railing. "Shall we walk?"

I complied, sticking my hands in my pockets. Together, we began walking down the deck.

"It's getting cold again." The child mentioned.

"Oh, do you need this?" I asked, gripping the sleeve of my hoodie.

"No, thanks. I gave that to you. Keep it."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

Total silence again.

When we arrived at the stern of the ship, we looked out at the horizon. Nothing but waters behind us. No land in sight.

"How long do you plan on being with Nakashima?" Sachiko asked out of the blue.

I cleared my throat in surprise. "I'm hoping she stays with me forever."

Sachiko smiled. "Then so be it."

"What?"

"Listen close, Shinohara, because I don't have a lot of time left here with you. I do have the rest of your friends after all." She informed in a calm voice.

"You have my attention, Sachiko." I confirmed.

"Good. I will tell you that you will be with Nakashima until the end of time. You will have two children. A boy and a girl-"

I opened my mouth to speak up that it was impossible for two girls to have kids, but Sachiko knew exactly what I was going to say.

"I know it's impossible, Shinohara, but technology will change in a few years. Trust me."

I immediately shut my mouth.

"Anyway, you will be with her forever, and you will have a son and a daughter. One will bear your likeness and the other will bear Nakashima's. They will grow up to be healthy and successful in their lives. Your siblings, however, will also grow up and become successful as well."

"YES!" I jumped for joy. "Naomi and I are gonna have babies!"

Sachiko giggled. "I knew you'd love that part!"

I kneeled down in front of the girl and crushed her into a hug. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"I-I'm not...quite...finished, Shinohara..." She grunted through the hug.

I quickly let her go. "Heh, sorry."

"It's fine. Got caught up in the moment I guess, huh? Anyway, I know of the scar you have around your neck, and it must go."

"Huh?"

"Let me see, please." She gently commanded.

I pulled the hoodie off, and pulled back the collar of my shirt, revealing the pink scar to Sachiko.

"Hm. It's not as as bad as I thought it was. And a fair warning: You may feel a slight stinging sensation, but it'll pass." She assured.

I smiled, nodding my head. "I trust you, Sachiko. Do what you have to."

"Okay, here goes." She said, putting her strangely warm hand on my collarbone.

All of a sudden, I felt the stinging she was talking about, and let out a small grunt of pain.

"Agh."

Pretty soon, she lifted her hand away. "It's done."

I felt around at my neck again. Smooth as a baby's behind. She really did heal it.

"Wow. Thanks!" I grinned.

"You're welcome, Shinohara," She smiled. "Now, I must leave and go on to your dear class rep."

I nodded once. "If you must."

She began walking away from me, but stopped in her tracks, not bothering to turn around to look me in the eyes. "Shinohara?"

"Hm?"

"Always remember," She began slowly. "Always remember that...love prevails in the end."

Then she left me.

I stood up on my feet and walked to the railing, staring out into the many miles of nothing but ocean.

I cracked a small smirk, repeating the very same thing that Sachiko said almost fifteen seconds ago. "Love always prevails in the end."


	9. The Happy Ending We All Wanted But Didn't Get

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> P.O.V switches a lot. Just pay attention.
> 
> \- 54

Satoshi's P.O.V

"Onii-chan!"

My eyes snapped open and I jolted upwards, sitting up in my bed. Yuka was standing by the bedside, smiling from ear to ear. She had all but bursted into my room, slamming the door behind her, and called me out as loud as she could in order to wake me up from the most peaceful sleep I've had in months, which had irritated me to no end.

"Yuka, what the hell?!" I questioned angrily, pulling up the covers over my white tank top cladded body. "Don't scare me like that!"

Yuka giggled. "Sorry, Onii-chan! Only doing what mom told me to do!"

I huffed. "I'm pretty sure she didn't tell you to make me go into cardiac arrest."

"Nope! Only that I should wake you up and tell you breakfast is ready!" She said, walking over to the window and drawing back the curtains.

I growled at the sunshine that she let into the room, and of course it was hitting me right in the face. I quickly lie back down and pulled the covers over my face. "I'll eat later."

"But, Onii-chan," Yuka whined. "Mom made your favorite crepes!"

"I said I'll eat later." I clarified, the pillow muffling my voice.

"Fine, but I thought you told me last night that as soon as we finished eating breakfast, we'd head over to the hospital to see how Shinozaki is doing?" Yuka said in a saddened tone.

I sighed. Yes, I promised Yuka last night before she went to bed that we'd head on over and see the class rep early this morning. What kind of big brother am I to break a promise to my little sister? And what kind of friend would I be if I didn't check up on Shinozaki in her time of need?

I threw the covers back and sat up on the edge of the bed, rubbing my eyes. "What time is it?"

Yuka shuffled over to the nightstand by my bed and picked up the digital alarm clock that was sitting there. "9:30."

"What?!" I exclaimed, ripping the clock from her hands.

She was right. The red digitalized numbers on the interface of the clock read that it was indeed nine thirty in the morning. What was wrong with me? I'm always an early bird, so why was I waking up so late?

I set the clock back down and let out a groan, running my hands down my face.

"You must've been really tired last night, Onii-chan, because I woke up in the middle of the night and decided to peek in your room to check on you, and saw that you were passed out on your bed, still wearing your school uniform. You didn't even bother to cover up with a blanket or anything." Yuka explained, sitting down beside me and crossing her arms at her chest.

I looked down, seeing that I was in my underwear and socks. "Then why do I not have clothes on?"

Yuka giggled. "I did what any little sister would do for their big brother! I took off your uniform for you and tucked you into bed!"

"Aagh!" I screamed, covering myself back up with my blanket as I just then realized that I was half-naked in front of my sister. "Why did you do that?!"

Yuka's features on her face turned sad. "I thought I was doing you a favor, Onii-chan."

"Huh?" I noticed the sad look on her face. I had to admit that I absolutely hated when she did that. It was like she had me wrapped around her finger in some way. But, oh well, she was my sister. And I didn't want to see her sad.

I sighed and put my hand on her head, petting her a few times. "It's okay, Yuka."

Her face suddenly turned happy as she let out a small giggle. "So, you're not mad?"

"How can I be mad at you? You only did it to make me more comfortable. So, I guess I should be thanking you. But, don't do it again, okay?"

Yuka smiled. "I won't! Promise!"

I smiled and stood up from the bed, taking a stretch and cracking my neck. "Let me get a shower and get dressed and I'll come down for breakfast, hm?"

"Okay! But, wait..." Yuka drifted off while looking down at the floor.

"Hm? What is it, Yuka?" I asked, my tone growing concerned.

She seemed to hesitate on what she was about to say to me. "Well...your window was opened last night when I found you asleep, and I know the roof is where you go whenever you need to think things through. So...I just want to know if you're okay, Satoshi."

That was odd. Yuka almost never calls me by my first name. It's usually "Big Brother" or "Onii-chan". Perhaps she was genuinely concerned for my well-being? I don't know. Yuka can be a bit strange sometimes, but overall she's generally a sweet young girl. I guess it wouldn't hurt to share some of my problems with her...would it?

I let out a sad sigh. "It's nothing really. Just felt like I needed some space to think about things, you know?"

"I don't like that tone in your voice, big brother. Something's bothering you, and I won't leave 'till you tell me what it is." Yuka stated firmly on her decision.

I'm pretty sure my eyes had widened listening to her speak like a full grown adult. Usually, she'd talk in the third person, which kinda annoyed me in a way, but this time...it was different. She began acting and speaking like a fourteen year old girl should do. In some sort of convoluted way, it felt like a part of her had changed.

I sighed, giving up. "Okay, I'll tell you, but at least let me grab a shower and put some clothes on. I feel awkward standing in front of you in my underwear."

"Go ahead. I'm gonna go downstairs and eat breakfast, or rather what's left of it." Yuka said, standing up.

"Huh?"

"Mom only fixed one stack of crepes. Dad chowed down on like four before leaving for work, and mom ate three. I guess I'll finish off the rest of them. If you want any, you better hurry up, huh?" She winked, making her way out of my room.

I stood there stock-still with a wide open mouth. Since when did she get that attitude?

A half an hour later...

I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen. Yuka, having changed from her pj's into a pair of jeans and a peach-colored sweater, was sitting at the kitchen table. An empty plate sat in front of her. She was rubbing her stomach in circular motions, looking as if she had just eaten her last meal for the rest of her life.

She looked up at me and shrugged her shoulders. "You took too long, big brother."

The girl then proceeded to let out a huge belch that was fit for a grown man.

I cringed at the vulgar noise. "It-it's okay, Yuka. I'll just eat in the hospital's cafeteria when we visit Shinozaki this morning."

Yuka shot me a funny look. "Satoshi, I just ate every single one of these crepes and didn't save any for you, knowing that they are your favorite, and you're okay with it?"

I looked away, speaking in a quiet tone. "W-well, I don't mind, considering that you must've been really hungry..."

I looked back at her to see that she had gotten up from the kitchen table and was walking over to me.

"Satoshi?"

"Yes?"

"Lean down."

"Wh-what?"

"Just do it."

"O-okay." I whispered. Bending down to stare into my younger sister's eyes, I couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable. I had known for quite some time that Yuka had thought of me as more than just her older brother. Of course, she would grow out of it as she got older. Or so I hoped.

Then, to my surprise, I loud and deliberate SMACK! was delivered to my right cheek.

"Ow!" I shouted, bringing a hand up to touch the now reddened flesh, which felt like a million bee stings. The pain itself was enough to make my eyes water just a tad. Yuka smacking me into next week came as a shock, indeed, but I could also detect a growing anger build up inside. "What the hell was that for?!"

"Man up, big brother!" Yuka had shouted back. Although, her voice didn't have an angry tone to it like mine did. More like a mix of concern and frustration. What did she mean by "man up"?

"Man up?! What's that supposed to mean?!" I questioned, still rubbing at the soreness of my face.

"Think about it! If you keep acting like a nice guy all the time then everyone who ever comes into your life will walk all over you like you're not worth anything!"

I flinched. What's gotten into her? Ever since she woke up this morning, she hasn't really acted like herself. Has she really been affected so much by that damned school that it's caused her to act like some sort of jerk? No. Yuka wasn't a jerk at all. She was just concerned for me. Her brother.

With that in mind, I thought over the things she had just said, and she was right. The more I thought about it, the more I began to realize that a bunch of people had taken me for granted in the past. People knew me. Knew I couldn't say no to anything. Knew that I was always there so they could use me to help them with one little thing and then toss me aside when they were done. If I kept this up, then I wouldn't have a future. I would have to say goodbye to the future that Sachiko had promised me. I don't want to do that. Not at all.

Yuka took notice of my silence. Her face grew soft, and she closed her eyes. With tears brimming, she spoke in a shaky voice. "Wait. I didn't mean any of that, big br-"

"No," I spoke up suddenly, causing the girl to let out a quiet gasp. "You're right, Yuka."

"I am?" She asked, fluttering her eyes open.

I nodded my head. "Mhm. I need to man up like you said. All these years, I've seen how people have taken me for granted. People that I don't talk to anymore have done it. my friends have done it, mom and dad have done it, and so have you."

Yuka looked downcast, as she realized it, too. "I h-have haven't I, big brother?"

I patted her head. "Don't worry yourself about it, Yuka. You didn't know it at the time, and, frankly, neither did I."

She sniffled a couple times, looking up at me. "I just don't like it when people do that to you. You're my brother, and I don't want to see you get hurt, you know?"

I smiled, ruffling her hair. "I know. I will try to change that, okay?"

Easier said than done.

"Promise?" Yuka asked.

"Promise." I confirmed.

Yuka giggled. "Sorry I slapped you."

I rubbed at my cheek again. "It's fine. I like to think of it as a great big reality check," I hissed at the pain again. "Damn, you have an arm, Yuka."

"Thanks, Onii-chan!" Yuka giggled again.

"Now I know how Shinohara feels whenever Naomi reprimands her for her inappropriate behavior." I mumbled, pulling up a chair at the kitchen table.

"Yeah, no kidding," Yuka replied, sitting down across from me. "So, what's the deal with you and Naomi? Are you...?"

I looked up at her. "Are we what?"

"Well..." Yuka grew quiet, scratching the back of her neck. "Are you guys like a thing now or...?"

I looked down at the table with a sigh, shaking my head slowly. "Nope."

"What?! Why?!" Yuka practically shouted, bracing herself by grabbing both sides of the kitchen table.

"She's in love with Shinohara." I explained, not taking my gaze off the surface of the table.

I heard her gasp, then she let out an enthusiastic squeal. "Nuh uh!"

"Yeah huh." I confirmed, obviously not sharing her enthusiasm.

I closed my eyes tightly as she let out another squeal. An ear-piercing one.

"Get outta here! That is so cute!" She grinned in a fangirlish way.

I groaned as my head thudded onto the table. Now my kid sister thought they were cute. Yeah, big help. "You're not helping the situation."

Yuka quickly shut up as she heard the sadness in my voice. "I'm sorry, Satoshi."

I leaned back in the chair. "It's not your fault."

She sighed, leaning forward and crossing her arms on the table. "With all due respect, big brother, it was bound to happen sooner or later. You know that."

Of course, it was bound to happen. The signs were all there, and I never realized it. I've seen the looks they give each other. How one worries when the other isn't by her side. It. Was. All. There. Still can't believe I didn't see it coming. I mean I did, but I didn't wanna believe it.

"Yeah, I know," I managed to croak out. "It just hurts. Badly."

Yuka looked down at the table, carefully choosing her next words. "The truth hurts, big brother, but being lied to hurts worse."

I looked up at her to see she had a sad, yet grave expression on her face. She hit the nail right on the head with that one. The truth does hurt. I did know that there was always something there between Naomi and Shinohara. Everyone knew. I was the only one out of us who didn't wanna accept it.

Then there are the lies, which hurt a lot more than reality. Lies are made up fantasies that you want others to believe, and/or sometimes made up fantasies that you want yourself to believe. Yes, some lies are good, but the majority of them do more harm than good. It just occurred to me about ten seconds ago that I have been lying to myself all these years. Not just about Naomi and Shinohara, but about other things. Things that had came with opportunities that had passed me by because I was either too scared to capitalize on them or I would deny the truth and lie to myself. I didn't want that to happen anymore. I didn't wanna be afraid of anything ever again. Being scared had cost me so much.

I mentally berated myself for always thinking that Yuka should be the one to grow up and act her own age, when in actuality, I was the one that needed to grow up. It was time to stop acting like a scared little kid and start acting like a man for once. I had to do it. My future depended on it.

"That's true," I said in a hoarse voice. "Yuka, you know how I promised you earlier that I would try to stop letting people take me for granted?"

"I do."

"Well," I scratched the back of my head and let out a long, frustrated sigh. "There's no 'try' to it. You can count on it that I will stop letting people walk all over me. I'll stop being a scared little boy, too. I'm not six years old anymore. I am a fully mature seventeen year old boy, and I need to start acting like it. And this whole thing with Naomi? Yeah, I'll admit it broke my heart, but there is someone out there for me. I know for a fact that there is, and I will have a bright future ahead of me with whoever it is. But, I won't get that future unless something changes here, Yuka. In this case, it's me. I have to change my ways if I want to succeed in my life. And it starts right now."

Yuka's jaw had hit the table right in the middle of my impassioned speech, and started growing into a grin right when I finished it. She spoke. "I'm glad to hear it, Satoshi. I'm proud of you. And I'll tell you something else: I don't think we'll ever be the same since all of this has happened."

I let out a chuckle, feeling the sadness and depression beginning to leave from me as a big grin made it's way onto my face as well. "No, Yuka, we will never be the same. Seeing all of that death and destruction has changed all of us. But it's for the good."

Yuka nodded. "It's true, Satoshi. I don't wanna be a spoiled, whiny little brat anymore. I'm fourteen now, and I need to act like it. I know mom and dad have other important things to worry about, and so do you. I don't wanna come between any of that, knowing that I am able to take care of myself."

She paused, then added with a small giggle. "And maybe find a bathroom for myself next time."

I let out a hearty laugh, as did she. Then without warning, she jumped out of her chair and ran around the table to capture me in a hug.

"I love you, big brother. You're the best." She said in a shaky yet happy tone.

I felt myself begin to tear up, but I quickly blinked them away. "And I love you, little sister."

We stayed like that for what felt like hours. Neither of us saying anything the whole time. Yuka, who had gotten my black t-shirt wet with her tears, let go and wiped her nose with her sleeve.

In a teary and shaky voice, she says, "Sachiko has been so good to us."

Yuka had the happiest glint in her eyes. She had one of those dreams, too. Sachiko had meant what she said when she said she had set out to repay all of us. I wanted to know what Sachiko had promised would be in her future. Would I be part of hers and she be part of mine? I couldn't imagine a life without my only sibling there to enjoy it with me. But, I'll ask later. In the meantime, I wanted to talk with Yuka about all of this.

I smiled and nodded my head once. "Indeed, she has."

We sat there in the kitchen in silence. Yuka trying to dry up her tears before we went to visit Shinozaki this morning.

She glanced at the clock. "It's 11:00, Satoshi. We need to get going. The others are probably already there."

We exited the kitchen and the house. Locking the door and sticking the key in my jeans pocket, I joined Yuka in walking down the sidewalk.

All was silent until...

"Hey, Onii-chan?"

"Hm?"

She seemed hestitant about her next choice of words. "Did you...have one of those dreams, too?"

"About Sachiko?" I inquired.

"Yes." She confirmed in a quiet tone.

"I did."

"I did, too."

The awkward silence was coming back, so I gave up and asked. "What did she promise you, Yuka?"

Yuka looked up at me with a glint in her eyes that I had never seen before. A smile graced her features as she began to explain. "Well, to start off, I was lost in this forest..."

Morishige's P.O.V

I was jolted awake by the sound of my phone ringing. Feeling around for my glasses, I accidentally knocked my phone off the nightstand.

"Damn it." I swore, fumbling to get my glasses on my face.

As soon as my glasses were positioned on my face perfectly, I gently rolled off the bed and landed softly on my knees. Seeing that my phone had landed face down, I picked it up to see on the caller ID that it was Mayu.

I flipped it open and held it up to my ear.

"Hello?" I said through a yawn.

"Hi, Shig! What's up?" Mayu exclaimed in her cheerful demeanor.

"Well," I began, reaching a hand around to rub out a crick in my neck. "I was sleeping."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Mayu's voice fell into a sad tone. "I didn't mean to wake you, Shig. I'll just go."

"No!" That sounded a lot louder than it should've. I quickly covered it up by clearing my throat. "I mean it's cool, Mayu. I needed to get up, anyway."

Mayu giggled. "Of course you did, Shig."

I stood up from the floor and sat on the edge of my bed. "Yeah, so what have you been up to this morning?"

"Well, I got up really early so I could call the hospital to make sure that the class rep got the bouquet of flowers that you and I sent her." Mayu explained over the phone.

I adjusted the phone so I could reach a hand behind to scratch my back. "What flowers?"

"Last night after you brought me home, I placed an order for a bouquet of roses to be delivered to her room really early this morning. So, that way whenever she wakes up, she'll wake up with a happy face." Mayu giggled.

I grinned through the reciever. Mayu. Being the kind and caring person that she was. Sending Shinozaki a bouquet of her favorite flowers. It was one of the few things that made me smile.

"That's very kind of you, Mayu."

"Oh, it was nothing, Shig."

I imagined the blush that lit up her face. She blushed heavily when she was being modest like that.

I let out a sigh as I just remembered that today was the day: Mayu was moving. I hated to bring it up, but I couldn't ignore it anymore. It pained my heart to see her demeanor change when I brought it up last night. But, I reassured her that we would still keep in touch.

I didn't want her to leave, but that's the way it's gotta be.

Here goes nothing: "Are you ready for the move?"

Shit. Of all the ways that I could've brought the subject up, I had to go down the road with the most ignorant question. Of course she's not ready! Hell, she doesn't even wanna go through with it!

After I mentally berated myself, I listened for her reply.

She sighed through the reciever, creating a small static-like noise. "As ready as I'll ever be, Shig."

"It'll be alright, Mayu. I know it will, and I promise that the others and I will pay a visit as soon as you have settled in." I said, trying to make the most of this depressing situation.

"Thank you," The girl replied. "I want to go see Shinozaki before I leave. Do you think you can get ready in the next hour and a half or so?"

"Of course I can."

"Okay, I'm gonna finish packing up, then I'll come over. We aren't leaving until the afternoon, anwyay. See you later."

"Bye, Mayu."

I closed my phone and sat it back on my nightstand. Standing up from the bed and popping a few bones in the process, I made my way into the bathroom.

An hour and a half later...

10:50.

Scoffing at the screen, I closed my phone and shoved it back inside my pants pocket.

Mayu was running a little late. This wasn't like her. She was always punctual, especially when it came to school. I can't count how many times I've arrived to class right after the bell signaled for all students to report to their designated class and saw Mayu sitting in her desk out of the corner of my eye with her notebook and pencil out and ready to get on with the lesson. That was one of the many things our class representative admired about Mayu.

I reached a hand up to pull my glasses off and rub my eyes. The thoughts that prevented me from getting a good night's sleep surfaced into the back of my mind again.

Ayumi Shinozaki. Our dearest class representative and certified savior. Words can't describe how grateful I am to her. I never thought I'd be able to see daylight again after all of that happened.

I shook the thoughts from my head, and turned to the sidewalk to keep a lookout for Mayu. She was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago...I hope nothing bad has happened.

She probably had alot to pack, though, so I'm guessing that's why she's a little late.

Paying the thought no more mind, I proceeded to absently pick at a button on my shirt.

I had pulled a lilac-colored dress shirt and some charcoal-colored dress pants from my closet. I hadn't dressed up like this since our drama club performed "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". I could tell you tons of stories about that catastrophe, but I'll save those for a rainy day.

But I will say this: As long as our drama club still stands and as long as I am part of the casting committee like I was for Sleepy Hollow, I will never ever again make the mistake of placing Yoshiki Kishinuma in the leading role of Ichabod Crane or any other lead role for that matter, despite his begging pleas.

I chuckled as I thought back to the delinquent boy's plan. All of the drama club had put up posters around Kisaragi advertising our production of Sleepy Hollow, and he must've took notice of them. So, he comes to me after school all but begging to be placed in the role of Ichabod Crane.

Why? It's simple.

He wanted to impress our class representative, whom would just so happen to be sponsoring our production.

Of course I told him he couldn't be in it because, for one thing, he wasn't involved in the drama club at all, but did that stop him?

Nope.

He auditioned anyway, and even though there were other more suitable actors who had auditioned for the role, I gave it to Kishinuma.

Big mistake on my part.

I learned of the big mistake on the night of the play. Kishinuma, in the role of Ichabod, and Han Hashimoto (remember him?) who had been casted in the role of Brom Bones, had broke out into a non-staged fight in the middle of production and all hell had broken loose.

Directly after the chaos ceased, the principal ordered that the drama club be disbanded for an entire month on account of school vandalism, indecent exposure (that was all Kishinuma), and assault. Kishinuma and Hashimoto had also been escorted out by the police, and suspended for two weeks by the principal.

No, they didn't serve any time, but both boys were charged with misdemeanors and sentenced to I don't know how many months of probation, plus neither one of them were never to be around any type of production that the drama club would be doing, much to my relief.

I snapped out of the memory as I caught a glimpse of a small head of brown hair bounding up the sidewalk. Make no mistake about it, that was Mayu Suzomoto. She was clad in a white blouse with a black skirt, and her signature pink beads that held up her pony-tail were replaced with white-colored ones.

A nice, big smile was plastered on her face as she continued her run towards my house shouting my name.

"Sakutaro! Sakutaro!" She shouted.

I snapped to attention at my first name being said. It was always "Shig" or "Shige-nii". Never "Sakutaro". Paying the matter no more attention than I needed to, I quickly bounded down the steps and caught the girl in a hug, spinning her around in a circle before setting her down back on her feet.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I asked in a concerned tone.

"I'm not moving!" Mayu giggled, bringing her arms around my neck.

I could only stare blankly down at the small girl. Only because there was a small part of my mind that refused to believe what she had just said.

My mind. My only tool of logic that had been damaged by that damned school. Being trapped inside Heavenly Host drove me to insanity. From here on out, it was gonna be hard to trust my mind again.

I felt a chill run down my spine just thinking of it.

"You're what?" I asked, trying my best to believe her words.

"I'm staying here, Shig! My dad's boss called this morning and gave him a promotion!" She repeated.

That's when I shifted my gaze from the girl to the side in thought.

I had this odd feeling in the pit of my stomach. It wasn't a bad feeling at all. No, it was good in some sense. It's been there all day, and it was like I knew something good was gonna happen soon. Was this it?

That was when I felt a sense of déjà vu. I've heard about Mayu's father's promotion before, and the move being cancelled, also. Hmm...

I felt Mayu's embrace on my neck began to loosen. She wasn't expecting my delayed reaction.

"What's wrong? Aren't you happy for me?" She whimpered, bringing her hand up to turn my gaze back to her.

I looked down at the puppy dog face she was giving me. Of course I was happy for her. Hell, I was ecstatic! I'm just puzzled about the déjà vu.

That's when it hit me like a wrecking ball, and I let out a hushed gasp in realization.

The dream! The one with Sachiko! I remember it now!

I felt a huge smile creep onto my face. "That's it!"

Mayu shrunk back in surprise. "What?"

I leaned down to capture Mayu's lips in a kiss. Her arms snaked back around my neck.

"Of course I'm happy for you, Mayu!" I began once the kiss ended. "I bet your mother and father are happy, too!"

Mayu blushed. "It's crazy, Shig. They acted different than usual this morning."

"What do you mean?" I prodded.

"I mean they were...nice to each other for once. No fighting. No acting hostile towards each other. It's actually quite nice."

I chuckled. "I bet."

Mayu took this time to hug me and snuggle into my shoulder.

"Now, I can stay with you forever, Shige-nii!" She exclaimed.

My face burned hot and my grin grew. "Until the end of forever, Mayu."

We stayed like that for what seemed like hours until she let go of me.

"We should be on our way to see her. Best not keep our hero waiting." Mayu said, taking my hand and beginning to tug me along beside her.

"Wonder how long her coma will last?" I wondered out loud.

She sighed. "It's hard to say. It could be months before she wakes up."

I thought back to what had been eating at the back of my mind the night before. I remember I came home and went straight to bed after walking Mayu home. Like I said before, all hopes of getting a good night's sleep had been lost. All I could do was toss and turn to try to find the most comfortable position possible, but to no avail. It was like trying to sleep on solid rock.

So eventually I gave up and just lay there awake. It was all I could do. At first, my thoughts were of Mayu. I wondered how she'd adapt to her new surroundings. The new neighborhood she'd be living in. The new school she'd be attending. Hoping that no one would pick on her or do anything mean to her. How we'd keep in touch. Things like that.

Then the images of what had happened only mere hours before had managed to surface into my mind, clouding my thoughts of the pony-tailed girl. I could see Kishinuma carrying the out cold Shinozaki bridal style to the nearest hospital with all of us following closely behind, some of us saying a silent prayer in our minds. I could see the doctors and nurses all but yank the class rep from Kishinuma's arms, put her onto a bed, and rush her into the emergency room. I had heard Nakashima murmur a small "Dear God, let her be okay." as the doors to the E.R. had slammed shut.

Seeing the class rep in that vegetative state...it was almost scary. Heavenly Host was a frightening place, but when you see one of your dearest friends holding on for dear life...

That's the most frightening thing in the entire world.

In a way, it made me feel worthless. The blue-haired girl had used all of her strength to give us our lives back, and it probably costed her her own life. She risked everything for us. Mayu, Shinohara, Ms. Yui, and I. She was willing to do everything in her power for our safe return, even if it cost her a good deal of her life. Was it really worth it?

I let out a depressed sigh, which caused Mayu to promptly take notice.

"What's wrong, Shig?" She asked.

"It's nothing to worry about, Mayu." I lied, faking a small grin.

Even though I had put all of my acting skills into that grin, the shorter girl saw right through the façade.

"Yes, it is," Mayu countered. "Now, tell me."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "I just feel bad about what's happened to Shinozaki."

"Oh," Mayu squeaked, her gaze shifting to the side. "You have that guilty feeling, too?"

I looked over at the shorter girl, not at all surprised by the fact that she, too, felt a pinch of guilt. "Yeah, I do."

It was her turn to sigh. "In all honesty, I think we all do, Shig."

I nodded my head in agreement. "I'm thinking that's why Ms. Yui has been stuck like glue to Shinozaki's side ever since we took her to the hospital."

Mayu turned her attention back to me. "You think so?"

"It's a possibility," I replied. "Ms. Yui may care for all of us like we're her own children, and I know it's tearing her apart inside to see the class rep like that, but I have a feeling there's something else there, you know what I mean?"

Mayu nodded. "I think I kinda get the gist of it. So, you mean like Ms. Yui feels guilty, like we do, about being alive again because she's seeing what it's done to Shinozaki?"

"Exactly," I confirmed. "That's why she's staying at her side all through this. It's all based around guilt. It's like survivor's guilt, only backwards."

Mayu made a small noise of realization, then our conversation drifted into silence.

We continued our walk, crossing the street a few times here and there, almost slamming into a guy on a bicycle. I was pretty sure that our conversation was over and wouldn't resume until we checked ourselves into the class rep's room.

Mayu was never this quiet around me unless she was thinking, and usually it's best not to disturb her in the middle of it. She'll talk when she's ready. She always did.

"We have no reason to be guilty, Shig." The shorter girl finally spoke up.

"Hm?" I asked, interested in what she had to say.

Mayu sniffled and rubbed at her eye. "We have no reason to be guilty. Shinozaki knew perfectly well what the consequences would be when she brought us back. She knew that a part of her soul would be drained by that book. She knew, Shig. She knew."

"But, was it worth it? Was it really worth giving up a part of her life so we could have a second one?" I asked, the guilt taking me over once again.

Mayu hesitated, rubbing the tears from her eyes. "Of course it was worth it, Shig. Just think of how she and the other grieved for us when we passed away. You know it had to have been at least twenty times worse for Shinozaki."

I bit my lip, staring at the ground as we walked.

The girl was right. The grief had to have been a heavy burden on the shoulders of the class representative, not to mention her feelings of guilt. That charm was supposed to be harmless, and Shinozaki knew that. She never ment to cause us any harm.

But the ironic part is that the scraps of paper were nothing more than stepping stones to the fate of four people.

"The guilt that she felt is a whole lot worse than the guilt we're feeling," Mayu continued. "She felt that she had somehow had something to do with our deaths. That's why she and Nakashima set out to find more background on Sachiko and Heavenly Host. That's why they tried the ritual without worrying about what might happen if they messed up. Both she and Nakashima were so desperate to bring us back that they would try anything and everything. The outcome of that wasn't so good, either."

"Poor Hinoe," I whispered. "She never got revived."

Mayu shook her head. "Restoring the lives of four people almost killed her. If she were to have attempted to ressurect Hinoe as well and succeeded in doing it, I'm sure she would no longer be here with us."

"That's true. No matter what we may think, Shinozaki is not superhuman." I replied.

Mayu sniffled, trying her best to dry up her tears. I took a small handkerchief out of my back pocket and presented it to her. She took it with a small smile and dabbed at her eyes.

"Thanks." The pony-tailed girl smiled, giving the used handkerchief back to me.

"No problem." I grinned, stuffing it back inside my pocket.

She sighed. "We're not the same people we once were, are we, Shig?"

I shook my head. "No, we're not, Mayu, and we never will be. Heavenly Host has affected us to that extent."

"We're going to carry this guilt around for the rest of our lives." Mayu mused aloud.

"It seems that way, but we'll get through this, Mayu, I promise." I smiled, tightening the grip that I had on her hand.

"Together." She said, returning the smile as we rounded a corner and caught sight of the hospital.

Naomi's P.O.V

My eyes snapped open and I shot straight up in bed. Taking quick raspy breaths, I looked around my pitch dark room for any signs of light, and to my relief I found that the sunlight was seeping into my room through the cracks of the closed blinds.

I exhaled slowly and ran a hand through my hair, which was matted together by sweat. Come to think of it, I was sweating all over. I reached behind me to feel of my pillow to find that it was a little on the moist side, as well.

I brought my hands up to cup my face as I leaned down to calm myself and regulate my breathing.

As my breathing slowed to it's normal pace, I began contemplating what had shaken me up so much. Then I remembered.

"That dream," I mused aloud in a quiet tone. "What the hell was that all about?"

It was a bit hazy, but I could remember bits and pieces of it. Sachiko was there, and she was happy. Her mother was there, too. She made her peace with me, then she went off to make peace with the others. That's all I could remember.

But, something was off. Something was different about me, but I couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was.

I sat there in bed, racking my brain, trying to remember more about the dream, but nothing came to me.

Oh well. Best not dwell on it any longer than I have to. Point is that it's over and done with. Sachiko's made her peace, and it's over.

With that in mind, I carefully pulled back the covers as not to wake the snoring Seiko, and carefully crept my way out of my room, down the hall, and into the bathroom.

Doing my business and washing up afterwards, I looked up into the mirror at myself to catch a glimpse of my eye. What I discovered right then and there nearly gave me a heart attack.

My jaw dropped and I slowly ran a hand over my left eye down to my cheek. That was when I bolted out of the bathroom and sprinted down the hall and back into my room.

"Seiko!" I harshly whispered, rushing over to the girl and shaking her shoulder roughly. "Seiko, wake up!"

"Hm?" Seiko hummed, lazily opening one eye. "Naomi, honey, I love you, but I'd appreciate it if you'd please let me have my beauty sleep."

I rolled my eyes, as Seiko manuevered over to her side and pulled the sheets up to her chin. I just happened to notice that she was facing the drawn blinds, and an idea formed inside my mind.

I walked around the side of the bed towards my window and yanked on the cord to the blinds, drawing them upwards, watching the sunlight filter into the room directly onto the half-asleep Seiko.

Her face scrunched up, and she pulled the sheets over her head.

"Naomiiiii~" She whined.

"I'm sorry, Seiko, but you gotta look at this!" I said, crawling onto the bed and raising up Seiko by her shoulders so that she would sit halfway up in bed.

"Alright," Seiko gave up, rubbing her eyes. "What is it?"

I moved my bangs out from in front of my left eye, revealing that the bronze-colored "S" had disappeared and the white of my eye had been restored to it's original color.

Seiko squinted at me through half-lidded eyes. When her gaze focused on my newly healed eye, her jaw dropped.

"Your eye!" She exclaimed, bracing the sides of my shoulders. "Are you alright?!"

"Shhh!" I scolded, placing my hand over her mouth, keeping in mind that my mother was in the next room asleep. "I'm fine."

Seiko brought her own hand up to remove my hand from her mouth so she could continue her questioning. "Can you see out of it?"

I nodded my head as a smile made it's way onto my face.

The brunette-haired girl's shocked expression slowly grew into one of extreme happiness. Sort of like that of a child waking up on Christmas morning. That's when she leaned forward to pull me back into a bone-crushing hug, which I returned with just as much heart.

"Oh, Naomi! That's great!" She exclaimed.

"Yes, it is," I replied. "I thought I was going to have to deal with that for the rest of my life."

Seiko released the hold she had on me and manuevered herself to sit upright in the bed without my support. "Yeah, no kiddin'. I was thinking of ways to take care of you all that time, too."

"Really?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Of course, Naomi! You know what they say! 'In sickness and in health 'til death do us part'!" Seiko said with her signature cat-like grin.

I blushed at the mention of a part of a wedding vow. "But, we're not married!"

"Yet." The brunette-haired girl corrected with a wink.

I giggled, smacking the side of her shoulder. "You goofball!"

Seiko and I shared a laugh for a good five minutes or so, then Seiko's expression turned serious as she brought her knees up to her chin and clutched them.

"There's one thing I still don't understand, Naomi." She says.

"What's that, Seiko?" I asked, mimicking her actions.

She seemed to think about how to word her next few sentences. "Don't you think it's kind of odd how your eye is all better now? I mean you were supposed to deal with that forever because of how you and the class rep fooled around with that forbidden magic mumbo jumbo. I just don't see how something so damning can just heal overnight like that."

I opened my mouth to speak, but then closed it tightly. Seiko did have a point. It was my punishment for participating in a ritual that included black magic, which meant that I'd have to wear the scars of my consequences for as long as I lived. It was kind of odd.

"You're right, Seiko. It is a little odd, but at least it's behind us now. I couldn't be happier." I replied.

"Right," Seiko agreed. "But, you gotta admit that it's still puzzling."

I nodded my head in agreement. "Yeah, it is."

"Do you remember doing anything to it or something?" Seiko continued questioning me.

I thought for a few minutes before shaking my head. "I didn't do anything. The only thing I did was show it to you."

"Hm." The brunette-haired girl acknowledged. "That's right. And I'm pretty sure I don't have any magical healing powers."

I looked down and pursed my lips in thought. That was the only thing I did wasn't it? We escaped Heavenly Host, brought Shinozaki to the hospital, said our goodbyes, then Seiko and I walked home. Seiko was the only one that saw my eye that night.

Unless...

That dream.

"Seiko?"

"Hm?"

"I did have some sort of dream last night..."

The way that Seiko looked up at me with solid eyes and a slightly open mouth told me that I had piqued her curiosity.

"A dream?" She repeated.

"I don't really remember it, but Sachiko was there," I began to explain. "And so was her mother."

Seiko stayed silent, begging me to go on.

"I woke up sweating like crazy and I could barely breathe. It was just like waking up from a nightmare, but it wasn't a nightmare. Does that make sense?"

She nodded her head in understanding.

"Anyway, she made her peace with me, then she went off to see you and the others. That's all I remember. Nothing else."

I finished my explanation and looked up at Seiko, whom had taken the time to look towards the window in complete thought.

"And you're sure you don't remember anything else?" Seiko asked.

"I'm positive." I reassured.

Seiko nodded. "I had a dream, too, but I remember mine crystal clear. Why don't you?"

I thought that very question over before speaking. "I remember hearing about this from the class rep. From what she told me, you can have a dream and wake up from it and suddenly not remember it. Maybe that's why I can't remember?"

"Possibly," Seiko turned her attention form the window towards me and brought a hand up to cup her chin in the classic thinking position. "Seems a dream like that would be remembered, though."

"Maybe if I think a little harder and try to remember, it'll come to me." I reasoned, seeing Seiko nod her head in approval.

"Hopefully, so," The girl replied through a yawn, taking a stretch. "You do that, and I'll be on my way to the little girl's room."

With a poke to my nose, she got out of bed and disappeared out the door.

I closed my eyes and thought back to when I first woke up. The night sweats. The raspy breathing. Those are symptoms you have when you wake up from a nightmare, right? But, it wasn't a nightmare. It was a good dream, a peaceful one. After my breathing returned to normal, I remember having this calm feeling washing over me. Was that another side effect of my dream?

I growled in frustration, running a hand through my hair. "Why can't I remember?"

I fell back into bed, staring up at the ceiling. My fingers absentmindedly came up to touch my eye.

'Come on, Naomi. You can do it. Remember. It can't be hard. Clear your mind of all thoughts.' I mentally cheered myself on.

I inhaled a deep breath and sighed, closing my eyes tightly again. Maybe I could somehow form a mental picture of my dream.

Sachiko was there...in a white dress...so was her mother...white room...Sachiko hugged me...

I shot straight up in the bed from my reverie as the revelation hit me: Sachiko did it.

I remember it all so clearly now. After Sachiko explained everything, she made me close my eyes. I remember the small burning sensation I felt. Sort of like someone had stuck a lighter to my skin for a split second. That's it! That was the missing piece to my mental puzzle.

Hearing the sound of my door closing, I looked over to see that Seiko had sat back down in the bed.

"Seiko!" I exclaimed, practically throwing myself into her arms. "Sachiko did it!"

The brunette-haired girl was caught off guard by my sudden action, turning it into an awkward-looking hug.

"W-what?" She stammered out.

"Sachiko was the one! I remember it now! In my dream, Sachiko healed my eye!"

I released the awkward hug and looked to Seiko to see that a sideways grin was plastered on her face.

"That's great, Naomi!" She began. "I made a discovery myself this morning."

"Hm?" I asked.

Seiko pulled at the collar of her pajama shirt to visibly show her skin. The scar that should've been around her neck had disappeared. Almost like it was never there in the first place.

"It's..." I began.

"Yep." Seiko smiled. "I knew it had been removed, but it couldn't hurt to double check, you know?"

I lunged forward and hugged Seiko again. This time she was able to catch me into a proper hug.

"I'm so happy, Seiko!" I exclaimed.

Seiko chuckled. "So am I, Naomi. Happier than I've ever been."

We stayed like that for a pretty good while, until I heard a few sniffles come from Seiko. I quickly let go and braced the sides of her shoulders, seeing that her face was slightly scrunched to keep herself from crying.

"Are you...crying?" I asked in disbelief, remembering the time that I had driven Seiko to tears when I had bursted out of the infirmary after being chased around inside by that ghostly figure. That was also included on the list of things that I'll never forgive myself for.

"No!" Seiko quickly denied, wiping at her eyes. "It's just my allergies!"

"Sure it is." I smirked, recognizing that these tears were joyful and not sad ones and assisting her in wiping them away.

"Anyway," The brunette-haired girl began with one last sniffle. "We need to get dressed as soon as possible. I promised Kishinuma we'd come back to visit this morning."

I nodded my head. "Mm."

A moment or two later...

I sat there on my bed, leaning over and tying my shoes. I was waiting patiently for Seiko, whom had been in the bathroom pretty much all morning. Good thing I was the first to call dibs on it, so I could get my shower and teeth brushing over and done with. Seiko, of course, would take longer because of her hair.

After I tied my shoes, I stood up and inspected my chosen clothing, which was a blue and black plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and some blue jeans. Suppose you could say it was more casual than fancy. It's just to the hospital, and it's not like the fashion police are going to arrest me, right?

I heard footsteps in the hallway and turned around to see Seiko standing at my door, once again donning her twin curls. Like me, she decided not to dress up for the hospital. She wore a dark green v-neck shirt, blue jeans, and a black jacket.

"Ready to go, m'lady?" Seiko asked with a grin, adjusting one of her curls.

"Yeah," I replied, taking Seiko's hand and walking out of my room, down the stairs.

"We should probably leave your mom a note or something, tell her we're out with our friends." The double-curled girl suggested.

I nodded my head once and scribbled mom a quick note and stuck it on the refrigerator in the kitchen, then we headed out the door with Seiko closing it behind us.

It was chilly out, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. I looked over at Seiko to see that she had taken the liberty of sticking her hands in her pockets to protect them from the cold.

We walked half of the way in silence, until Seiko spoke up. "Penny for your thoughts, Naomi?"

"Hm?"

"You've been quiet this whole time. What's up?"

"It's nothing, Seiko. I was just thinking."

"About?"

I sighed, shivering a bit as I felt chill bumps begin to surface on my arms. "Stuff."

"Are you cold?" The double-curled girl next to me asked as she began to take off her jacket.

"No, I'm okay, Seiko, really." I said, putting a hand up to stop her from removing it.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay," She said, adjusting her jack back onto her shoulders and zipping it up. "So, what stuff?"

"Hm?"

"What stuff were you thinking about?"

I looked down at the ground and clasped my hands. "I'm just thinking about how all this has affected us."

Seiko shoved her hands back inside her pockets, and I could feel her eyes on me.

"I mean," I elaborated. "I feel like this whole Heavenly Host situation has changed our ways maybe just a bit."

"I don't get what you're saying, Naomi." She confessed, bringing a hand out of her pocket to scratch the back of her head.

I put a hand out in front of her, bringing the both of us to a complete stop.

"Look at us, Seiko. We're not the same people we were when we first entered Heavenly Host. I think that whole experience has changed us in both good ways and bad ways. I guess it would be accurate to say that it scarred us for life, you know?"

The double-curled girl seemed to take this in consideration as she looked at the ground in thought with her lips pursed.

"Yeah, you're right." She began after a small period of silence. "It has scarred us for life on a very emotional level. I can tell it's changed you."

I blinked. "You can?"

"Sure can. You're not as tightly wound as you used to be. You're more laid back about things, like me." Seiko says.

"You always did try to get me to be more like you, Seiko." I grinned.

"Yeah," Seiko chuckled. "I did."

"It's changed you, too, you know?" I mentioned, as we began walking again.

"Oh?"

I nodded my head. "You're a lot more mature now than you were before."

Seiko shot me a hurtful look. A look that made me quickly change up the words in my previous sentence.

"I mean," I gulped. "Not saying that you were always childish. You did have your responsibilities as an older sister, and you knew that."

Seiko's hurtful look faded and her grin appeared. "Yeah, that's true. And to be honest, I think my perverted side is almost burned out."

I looked over to the double-curled girl in surprise. "R-really?"

Seiko thought it over for a minute. "Weeeelll not technically. I mean I'm still gonna grab dat ass whenever I can, buuuuut it won't be often. If that makes sense."

I giggled. "I understand."

Seiko grabbed my hand tightly. "We'll be okay, right, Naomi?"

I abruptly stopped walking and put my arm in front of Seiko to prevent her from going forward. She looked at me in the eyes, searching for the motive of why I paused our journey to the hospital.

That was when I leaned in and kissed her deeply.

"We're going to be just fine." I assured her when I pulled away from the kiss.

Seiko's face lit up with the biggest smile I'd ever seen. "I must be dreaming, Naomi."

"Want me to pinch you?" I asked, playfully, as we resumed our walking.

She giggled, slinging her arm around my shoulder. "No way!"

I giggled along with her, reaching up to grab the hand that she had placed upon my shoulder.

"Oh, and Naomi?"

"Yes?"

"Just one more thing."

"What's th- SEIKO!"

The laugh that came from the mouth of the double-curled girl could be heard from miles away.

Yoshiki's P.O.V

The light of the morning sun peeking through the curtain's of Shinozaki's hospital room was enough to get me to open my eyes. I picked my head up to see that I had fallen asleep sitting in the chair that I had pulled over to the side of her bed with my head resting on Shinozaki's bed.

I let out a silent yawn and reached behind to scratch the back of my head. Shinozaki had not awaken in the middle of the night like I was hoping she would. She still lay there as she did last night. Not moving a muscle. Different cords and wires protruded from her like she was some sort of robot.

Looking away from Shinozaki to the teacher that had agreed to stay the night with us out of her own will, I noticed that she had been sleeping on a cot that had been brought in by the nurses. The one that I was supposed to be sleeping in was next to her's. She was piled up, cozily. Sort of like a caterpillar. The food that she had bought for me last night was sitting in the seat of the other chair, untouched.

I grinned.

"Ole' teach." I said aloud to myself.

Deciding that the chips and the Coke would be my breakfast for the morning, I threw my trash away in the small garbage can next to Shinozaki's bed, and made my way out the door.

When I got in the elevator and pushed the button that would take me down to the lobby, I let out a long sigh, leaning back on the railing inside the elevator.

"Shinozaki," I say aloud to no one but myself, as I was the only one in the elevator. "Wake up soon."

As the elevator doors opened, I stepped out, bidding the lady at the desk a 'good morning', and made my way outside so I could have a cigarette.

I felt around my slacks pockets for my pack of cigarettes, and pulled one out along with the lighter.

As I lit it up, I thought of how the night before had transpired. It had all happened within the blink of an eye. After Shinozaki destroyed Heavenly Host, we all blacked out. Next thing we know, we're in the classroom of 2-9. I remember the exact order of us all waking up. I was first, then it was Nakashima, whom had taken the liberty of shaking Shinohara awake, Mochida had awaken with a tremendous headache, the youngest Mochida was next with the urgent need of a bathroom, Suzomoto and Morishige had awaken on their own at the same time across from each other. Ms. Yui was the final one to rouse, quickly asking the question if anyone was alright, to which we all replied in a positive manner.

Everyone except Shinozaki.

She had been face down on the ground with her arms sprawled out above her. I was the first to take notice, jogging over, and bending down beside her. The others had all gathered around in widespread panic, checking her over for any signs of life.

Mochida noticed that she was breathing, and I located her pulse.

After we all sighed in relief that she wasn't dead, Nakashima suggested that we take her to the nearest hospital. Of course, we all racked our brains trying to think of how to get her there. Shinohara suggested that we call an ambulance to come get her, but Morishige quickly shot that down with the mention of the authorities getting involved because the paramedics may suspect us of foul play.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back for me, as I hoisted her up into my arms so I could carry her there myself.

I took a long drag of my cigarette and blew the grey cloud into the air, as I drifted away from those memories that would be etched into my brain forever.

I changed the subject inside my mind, thinking of how I needed a shower and some new clothes. My apartment complex wasn't too far from the hospital. If I manage to quickly make my way over there to shower and change out of my school clothes, I'd be back in at least thirty minutes tops.

Okay. It's settled.

I took the last puff of my cigarette, and threw it to the ground, stubbing it out with my shoe.

A walk to Yoshiki's apartment complex and a bit later...

I emerged from the shower, making my way to my room with a towel wrapped around my waist. I wanted to hurry quickly and be back in time before Ms. Yui woke up.

Not giving two shits about what I wore, I pulled a red t-shirt and some khaki shorts from my dresser drawer and slid them on.

I know what you're thinking. Who the hell wears shorts in the winter time? It doesn't matter to me because I'm not bothered by the cold.

After throwing my towel into the hamper next to my door, I made way into the living room and made a beeline for the door when something, or rather someone, caught my eye.

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned around to see what jackass was dumb enough to break in here while I was home.

And what I saw nearly caused me to stop breathing.

I blinked my eyes a few times to see if I I had been hallucinating, but that thought was horribly mistaken.

It was them. The people who were supposed to love me unconditionally. The people I hadn't talked to in so long. The people who kicked me out of my own home.

How in the fuck am I supposed to react to this?!

"Hello, son."

A tear-jerking conversation and a walk back to the hospital later...

As the elevator doors opened and I began walking back to Room 354, I wondered back to the very situation that had went down back at my apartment moments ago.

My parents were back in my life.

They just waltzed into my apartment without being invited in, and practically begged me to let themselves back into my life.

Of course, I didn't know how to react to any of that. It was all so sudden. My mind had been in conflict for so long whenever the topic of my parents was brought up. I was so messed up inside that I had just began crying and lashing out at them.

I said some hurtful things to them, but that was how I felt. Like Nakashima said before, it hurts to hold emotions inside. My mother began crying on the spot, and my father shed a few tears as well.

There was one moment there that showed me that they weren't just there to spout a lot of bullshit.

I had had enough of their pleading and apologies, so I stormed over to the door and all but yanked it open, telling them to get out and never come back, with tears streaming down my face.

That's when my father rose up from his position on the couch, and slowly walked over to me. He stared into my face for what felt like hours, then he pulled me into a hug.

I tried to fight out of it, but a part of me was too tired to fight, so I just relaxed and let him hug me. More tears had poured out of my eyes in the moment.

And that was the first time that I had ever heard my father admit he was wrong.

The thoughts ended there as I spied the golden plaque that was enumered with the number '354', indicating that I had arrived at Shinozaki's room.

I opened the door to see that Ms. Yui was sitting in the chair beside Shinozaki's bed, reading the morning paper.

So much for attempting to come back before she woke up.

"Morning, Kishinuma." She greeted, not looking up from the paper.

"Morning, teach." I greeted back with a choked up sound that was my voice.

Ms. Yui seemed to notice the change in my voice, as she looked over at me from the paper. "Something wrong?"

"Hm?" N-no. No. I'm fine." I reply.

"Have you been crying?" She asked, folding up the paper and standing from her chair.

I hesitated on my answer before I sighed, allowing to let Ms. Yui in. "Y-yeah. Don't tell anyone."

"I won't, Kishinuma. I know you have a reputation to keep," Ms. Yui smiled. "Now, tell me what's the matter?"

I paused before speaking. "My mom and dad are back."

Ms. Yui's face fell. "Oh?"

"Yeah." I said, exhaling a breath that I had been holding.

"How do you feel about that?" She inquired, walking over to put a hand on my shoulder.

I kept silent on that question. In all honesty, I was feeling mixed emotions. A part of me was angry that they had walked back in without telling me they were coming back, and another part was so damn elated that they were back and that I was welcome in my own home again.

"I...don't know, Ms. Yui," I confessed. "It all happened before I could bat an eyelash."

Ms. Yui nodded in understanding. "Give it some time, Kishinuma. You just finished healing from the hurt of having been kicked out by them, and now that they're back, it's re-opened those wounds. It hurts, but you have to remain strong. I know you can, Kishinuma. Shinozaki knows you can."

I nodded my head once. "Thanks, teach."

Ms. Yui patted my shoulder. "It's no problem at all."

Time passed slowly as Ms. Yui and I sat in the room of Shinozaki. Ms. Yui had resumed sitting in the chair and reading the paper, while I kicked back in the chair that was on the other side of the room, flipping through the channels on the television.

"Kishinuma?" Ms. Yui called for me after about an hour and a half of boredom.

"Hm?" I asked, switching the TV off.

"She's stirring in her sleep."

"What?"

"Come look."

Jumping up from the chair, I walked over and bent down to peer at Shinozaki, studying her movements closely.

She was, indeed, moving. That was clear.

"Shinozaki?" I softly asked, gently prodding at her shoulder with my hand.

No answer.

"Shinozaki?" I tried again.

"Ayumi?" Ms. Yui asked, calling Shinozaki by her first name.

Still no answer.

Ms. Yui and I looked at each other, shaking our heads with disappointed expressions. She wasn't waking up. Not today, anyway.

Once again, Ms. Yui resumed reading the newspaper, while I resumed occupying the other chair. Opening my phone up for the first time this morning, I recognized that I had gotten a text at the early hours of the morning when it was still dark from Shinohara.

"Shinohara says hi, Ms. Yui." I say, doing what she told me to do in the text.

Ms. Yui hummed, acknowledging my comment. "Are they coming by today?"

"Supposed to be. Mochida said they'd all be here this morning." I reply.

That was the last thing that was spoken for a while. I had made myself comfortable in the chair and was about to drift off into sleep, but the sound of Ms. Yui's voice had stirred me awake.

"Kishinuma? She's moving around again."

I rose up from the chair and bent down towards Shinozaki again. "Shinozaki?"

No answer, even though she was still moving.

"Wake up, damn it." I whispered.

Ms. Yui spoke up. "Ayumi?"

No answer.

I exhaled slowly, trying not to get exhasperated over the fact that she possibly won't wake up, even though she's showing signs.

Running a hand through my hair, I carefully sat down on Shinozaki's bed, careful not to pull any cords or wires that protruded from her.

The doctors must have taken the oxygen mask off her early in the morning, as it was gone from her face. The IV and the EKG wires were still hooked to her, though.

I ran a hand down the side of her face, brushing the hair out of her eyes. Even in her sleep, she still looked as beautiful as ever.

Then, without thinking, I gently bent down to her face and brushed her lips with a kiss.

Raising my head to look into her face one more time, I gently stood up from the bed, and exhasperatedly ran a hand down my face.

"K-Kishunuma?" A weakly voice spoke up from outta nowhere.

My eyes widened as I listened again for that voice, silently praying that the voice I heard wasn't a figment of my imagination.

"Kishinuma! She's awake!" Ms. Yui said in surprise, throwing her newspaper back and standing up from her chair.

I quickly turned around to see a pair of familiar blue eyes fluttering open and closed. A sleepy expression was plastered upon her face.

"So you're awake?" I say, smiling.

Shinozaki slowly nodded her head, a small smile began to grace her features.

"I'm going to go notify the doctor that she's up," Ms. Yui interjected, putting a hand on my shoulder and smiling at the newly awaken blue-haired girl. "Welcome back, Shinozaki."

"Th-thank you." Shinozaki replied, as Ms. Yui exited the room.

"Hi." She said softly, smiling up at me.

"Hey." I replied. God, I felt the tears coming.

"Don't c-cry, Kishinuma," The blue-haired girl weakly pleaded, bringing a shaky hand up to wipe a tear from my cheek. "Makes you look w-weak."

I sniffled. "I c-can't help it. I never th-thought you'd wake up for a while."

She giggled weakly. "Blame S-Sachiko."

"Huh?" I asked.

"I h-had a dream...and Sachiko w-was in it." She began to explain, but I shushed her gently.

"Shh. It's okay. I had a dream, too, but we'll discuss that later when you're feeling better."

"Kishinuma?"

"Hm?"

"K-kiss me."

I stared into her face for a while, then complied to her request, bending down to kiss her deeply.

When I broke the kiss, I raised back up to see that she had a huge toothy grin on her face.

"You b-big softy." She weakly joked, raising a hand up to caress my cheek.

We stayed like that for a while, until the knob of the door turned and slowly opened. Figuring it was Ms. Yui returning with the doctor at her side, I slowly stood up from the bed.

The figure standing at the door wasn't the person I was expecting, and I don't think Shinozaki was expecting it, either.

With wide eyes and a slightly ajar mouth, Shinozaki let out a weak sound.

"H-H-Hinoe?"

Third Person P.O.V

(Quick A/N: Remember the other six do not know that Ayumi is out of her coma.)

Seiko and Naomi were the last to arrive out of the six that were expected to arrive that morning to see the class rep. Both girls had informed the nice lady at the front desk that they were there to see the patient in Room 354, to which the nurse replied that Ms. Shinozaki was currently being evaluated and that she couldn't be seen until it was over.

So, the nice lady pointed the duo towards the waiting room where they found a quiet Sakutaro Morishige playing a game on his phone and an even quieter Mayu Suzomoto who had her eyes glued to the show that was on the television.

"Hey, you guys!" Seiko greeted with a smile.

"Hi, Shinohara! Hi, Nakashima!" Mayu greeted back in a cheerful manner.

"Hey." Sakutaro greeted, looking up from the game he was playing for a split second.

"Heard anything?" Naomi asked as she and Seiko took seats across from the couple.

"Nothing," Mayu replied. "Have you?"

"Not a thing," The pixie-haired girl said, seeming to look around for something, or rather someone. "Are Satoshi and Yuka here?"

Mayu nodded her head. "They're in the cafeteria. Mochida was hungry, and Yuka followed him down there."

Throughout the conversation between Naomi and Mayu, Seiko had been eyeballing Sakutaro and his proper little getup that he had chosen to wear.

"So, Morishige?" Began the double-curled girl.

The blue-haired boy closed his phone up and put it in his back pocket. "Shinohara."

"Where are you off to lookin' snazzy like that? Tryin' to impress your woman?" She teased with a devilish smirk.

Sakutaro grunted, his face turning red as a garden tomato. "That's n-none of your business."

Seiko put her hands up in mock defense. "Alright, Morishige. I know when to back off from someone. Just wanted to get a rise out of ya, that's all."

Sakutaro mumbled. "Well, it worked."

At the sound of that, Seiko smiled proudly.

"Hey, Nakashima? I see your eye is well?" Sakutaro noticed, trying to avoid the conversation he just had with the eldest Shinohara.

"Oh!" Mayu squeaked. "I feel stupid for not recognizing earlier! I'm sorry, Nakashima!"

Naomi chuckled. "It's fine, Suzomoto."

"What happened?" Inquired the pony-tailed girl.

Naomi rubbed the back of her head, nervously. "Heh, long story."

The door to the waiting room opened, bringing it to everyone's attention to see who was coming in. The Mochida siblings entered. The eldest carried a bottle of water in his hand, while the youngest was thrilled to see the duo known as Seiko and Naomi.

"Nakashima! Shinohara!" Yuka exclaimed, running over to greet the two with a hug.

"Hey, kiddo!" Seiko greeted.

"Hi, Yuka!" Naomi greeted as well.

"Heard anything, Mochida?" Mayu inquired the brunette-haired boy.

"Nobody's told me anything. Kishinuma said he'd come by whenever they finished the evaluation, and we'd all go down to see her together." Satoshi says, taking a swig from his bottle.

"But do you think it'll be okay for a total of eight people to be in her room? Space issued for the doctors and nurses and all that." Sakutaro pointed out.

Satoshi shrugged his shoulders. "Kishinuma says her room is pretty huge. I guess we'll see."

Seiko cut in. "I don't see why they're evaluating her, you know? They can't do much because of her coma, and they told us there wasn't much else they could do for her."

Naomi, who's dream was to be a nurse, explained. "They still have to check her vital signs. Temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and respiratory rate. I don't know what else they'll do."

Seiko nodded her head, putting her arm around the pixie-haired girl.

"Isn't she a smart cookie?" Seiko says with a proud smirk on her face.

"Seiko!" Naomi playfully scolded.

Seiko giggled, then abruptly stopped when she remembered that Satoshi was in the room. The double-curled girl had known that his heart was probably broken because of Naomi's rejection, so she removed her arm from around the shoulders of her love and kept silent.

Suddenly, a familiar blonde-headed delinquent appeared in the doorway.

"They're done evaluating if you wanna come see her," Kishinuma explained. "Her room is big enough to squeeze all of us inside."

The six in the room were surprised with his sudden appearance, but followed the delinquent boy out of the room and down the hall, nontheless.

The walk to Room 354 was silent, until Yoshiki decided to speak up.

Putting his hand on the doorknob, he turned to the others and spoke in a soft whisper. "Be very quiet."

The others nodded their heads in unison, and Yoshiki ushered them into the room. What they saw nearly caused all of their hearts to stop. It must've been some kind of messed up mirage or a figment of their imaginations.

The class representative was sitting up, fully awake, with her sister, Hinoe, at her side, as well as their loving teacher, Ms. Yui. Her eyes were barely open in her weak state, and when she saw her fellow classmates come into the door, she flashed them a weakly smile.

"Hey, guys." She choked out in a weak whisper.

No one spoke a word. Shock and tension filled the room, as the visiting six turned with accusatory glares at the blonde-headed boy who led them there.

"What's the big idea, Kishinuma?!" Seiko was the first to exclaim, smacking the surprised Yoshiki in the back of his head.

"Ow!" He says, rubbing the spot where Seiko had hit him. "What the hell, Shinohara?!"

"Why didn't you tell us she was awake?!" Naomi was the next to speak, emphasizing every word in her sentence with harsh pokes to Yoshiki's chest.

Satoshi followed up with harsh pokes to his shoulder. "We could've been more prepared if you had said something about it!"

"QUIT POKING ME!" Exclaimed Yoshiki, rubbing at his chest and shoulder areas where he had been poked.

Naomi and Satoshi quickly complied, but still glared towards the boy.

"I wanted to surprise all of you," Yoshiki says. "Shinozaki wanted to surprise you all, too, so I decided to keep my mouth shut about it."

At the mention of this, both Satoshi and Naomi's faces softened.

"Sorry, Kishinuma." Naomi apologized, her eyes cast downward to the floor.

"Yeah," Satoshi agreed with a soft blush, scratching the back of his head nervously. "We just overreacted because we didn't know, that's all."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Yoshiki grinned, playfully punching the side of Satoshi's shoulder and ruffling Naomi's hair. "She's excited to see you guys, so why don't you go talk to her?"

Naomi and Satoshi both nodded and made their way over to the weak Ayumi, who was chatting happily with an overjoyed Mayu and a somewhat happy Sakutaro.

"I'm so happy for you both!" Ayumi exclaimed weakly, moving to hug both Mayu and Sakutaro who both complied, happily.

"Thanks, class rep!" Mayu smiled.

"Yeah, thanks." Sakutaro pushed his glasses up with a smile.

"Thanks for the flowers, too." The blue-haired girl mentioned, thinking of the small vase of roses that was sitting on the table beside her bed.

"No problem!" Mayu says.

Ayumi grimaced in pain and weakness as she tried to situate herself back into her sitting position in the bed.

"Be careful," Hinoe warned. "You're still weak from the coma."

"Yeah, I know." Ayumi smiled, glad to have her older sister back.

Satoshi and Yuka walked over to the other side of the class rep's bed, so they could exchange a few words with the brave girl.

"You doing okay, Shinozaki?" Satoshi asked, putting his hand on Yuka's head.

"I'm doing just fine, Mochida," Ayumi says in her weak stupor. "That's what the doctors say at least."

"Are you gonna get to go home later today?" Yuka joined in, looking at the class rep with sad eyes.

Ayumi took that question under thought before she spoke. "I don't think so, Yuka. I'll probably be here for a few days because of my weak state. It all depends on when I begin to build my strength back up."

Yuka smiled in sympathy, feeling a tear run down her face.

"If I ever get any of it back." Ayumi mumbled under her breath.

Seiko and Naomi took their turn, stepping up to the foot of the bed.

"Hi, class rep." Seiko says with a sympathetic smile.

"Hey, Shinohara." Ayumi greeted with a small smile and a weak wave.

"You look like shit." The double-curled girl joked, hoping to add humor to this depressing situation.

Ayumi chuckled, catching onto her dry humor. "Thanks."

The blue-haired girl then turns her attention to Seiko's companion. The one who she had asked to investigate the Shinozaki estate with her. The one she had helped comfort when the double-curled girl had passed. The one that stuck by her through everything even when they argued over the silliest things: Naomi Nakashima.

The pixie-haired girl in question looked like she was beginning to cry.

"Nakashima?" Ayumi inquired, looking towards the girl.

"You did it." Naomi smiled through her tears, wiping at her nose with her arm.

Seeing her former rival like this almost brought the pig-tailed hero herself to tears, but she kept them from falling with the small amount of strength that she had.

A weak smile formed on Ayumi's face. "I'd do it again if I had to."

That very sentence that tumbled out of the weak girl's mouth struck everyone in that room in the heart as tears began to form in their eyes. Even Sakutaro was a little teary-eyed.

The brave hero had a lot on her heart, and she figured she'd take the time now to say it. She breathed in weakly and exhaled softly.

"It's true," She began, licking her dry lips. "I would go back and do it all again. Because you guys are my best friends. I'd cut out my own heart if that meant saving all of you."

Ayumi gritted her teeth, bearing the small twinge of pain that surged throughout her body before she continued.

"Throughout this whole ordeal, I've learned something. In life, you have to make sacrifices. Whether it be for a loved one or a complete stranger. I kept nailing that into my own head during that whole second trip to that damned school. I knew that I would have to sacrifice something in order to restore all of you. But when I found out that I'd have to sacrifice a piece of my soul..."

She paused as tears began filling her blue eyes.

"I honestly didn't know if it was the right thing to do. My head was filled with doubt that it may have been the Book of Shadows just trying to trick me into giving up my soul for the sake of it's own amusement. But, it wasn't a sick joke on the book's part. Someone helped me to see that."

Ayumi looked around Naomi and Seiko to the blonde-haired boy that had been leaning against the door with his hands in his pockets.

"Kishinuma and I spent hours studying the Book of Shadows looking for alternative solutions, but failed to find any. That's when we figured out that sacrificing myself was the only solution to it. I'll admit I was terrified to do it. Black magic is a dangerous thing. Nakashima will tell you that. Right, Nakashima?"

Ayumi grinned at the pixie-haired girl, who in turn nodded her head vigorously.

"I see that your eye is well." The blue-haired girl pointed out.

"Yeah." Naomi said, touching at her eye with her hand.

Ayumi sighed. "But, like I said before, I was terrified to do those resurrection spells. Black magic almost killed Nakashima and I, but my sister stopped it from happening."

Hinoe smiled, grabbing Ayumi's hand.

"She didn't have to do it, but she did. Her death added on to the grief that I had felt when you all passed. The memories of all of you helped remind me of why I had stepped foot inside that godforsaken place for a second time. After all, it was my fault that you all died there in the first place."

Tears began falling down her face.

"I'll never forgive myself for suggesting we do that damned charm. If I knew it was going to kill you all, I would've left it alone. The guilt that I felt plus the grief of losing you stayed on my mind for days. I didn't go to school for two weeks after that. In the midst of my grief, I began researching the Shinozaki estate to learn more about it. The more I studied it, the more I saw that things didn't click. I went to Nakashima with this information, and she agreed to go with me. There we discovered the Book of Shadows, and tried learning from it."

During this, Naomi reached down to grab Seiko's hand.

"We attempted to try the spell to resurrect Suzomoto, but that ended badly. I lost my sister, and Nakashima lost her eye. We both ended up in the hospital after that happened, and when we got cleared, we went back to looking into more info on the Book of Shadows. We were up for two nights in a row studying that damned book."

The blue-haired girl let out a weak cough, prompting both Ms. Yui and Hinoe to touch her shoulders in sympathy.

"To make a long story short, the only alternative for saving all of you was to go back inside Heavenly Host and attempt the spells in there. It was very difficult, especially Shinohara's, but we managed to do it. And, yes, I wish I could've saved everyone that had died a horrible death in there, but I couldn't risk it. If I had, then I wouldn't be here alive."

The class rep had a far away look in her teary eyes.

"The guilt of having you all killed, and the guilt of not being able to save everyone will haunt me forever. That I know. But, like Kishinuma said, you can't save everyone. Now, I'm not a hero, no matter what you all think. I'm just an ordinary girl who cares about her friends and will do anything in her power to help them. We are all one family. We all may not be blood, but we're here. And that's all that counts."

By the time Ayumi finished her first tender, heart-felt speech, everyone was crying. Sakutaro had tears running down his face and held Mayu while she wept. Satoshi shed a few tears as well, while Yuka had her teary face buried in his black shirt. Naomi had an arm around the front of Seiko's neck and shoulder, crying into the double-curled girl's neck. Yoshiki shed a few manly tears behind everyone else, so no one could see. Ms. Yui sniffled a few times, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. And Hinoe's tears slowly fell, but her face still had it's composure.

"Sachiko is at peace, now," Ayumi began. "She granted all of us something special in our dreams last night. She fulfilled the deepest desires in our hearts to show her gratitude. I don't know about the rest of you, but I believe she is truly sorry for everything that she has done to all of us. The girl in the white dress can finally rest in peace knowing that we have all forgiven her. We all know what she promised us, and we all look forward to having our dreams come true. That is for sure. But that doesn't mean we all won't grow apart from each other. Our bond as one is too strong. Sachiko said that herself. Our prescence inside Heavenly Host alerted her. She knew that our bond as friends was too strong for her to overpower, so she devised a way to make it fade away by severing that bond into different parts. She took away the four of you that were the nearest and dearest to our hearts. And by doing that, the bonds with the remaining five of us grew stronger. The love that we all share is strong and can overcome the evilest of things. That much is true. We'll all carry the scars and images that the school planted into our minds and hearts, but we'll all make it through. Together. Remember that."

As the class rep finished up her impassioned speech, she let out a few dry coughs. All the while, a certain blonde-haired delinquent walked up behind Seiko and Naomi.

"That's something we will all teach our future children. Love is strong no matter what." He says, looking into the eyes of his bed-ridden love.

Everyone nodded their head once.

"And that no matter how small that love is, it'll still make all the difference in the world." Naomi added.

"Love is also letting go of something that you once loved," Satoshi chimed in, walking over to Seiko and Naomi. "So you can see them be happy with someone that's not you."

The brunette-haired boy gently grabbed the hands of both Seiko and Naomi and intertwined one with the other, showing that he approved of their relationship.

"This is so cheesy, you guys." Sakutaro interrupts, taking off his glasses to wipe a few tears from his eyes.

"If it's so cheesy, then why are you crying?" Yoshiki shot towards the blue-haired boy with a smirk.

"I'm not." He denied, crossing his arms. Everyone, in turn, shot him a 'you're full of shit' look.

He huffed, uncrossing his arms to wipe away another tear that escaped his eye. "Alright, I am."

Mayu snuggled into his arm. "Don't be embarrassed, Shig. It's sweet to see you cry like that."

Seiko sniffled loudly, wiping at her nose. Naomi saw this and rolled her eyes playfully, motioning for Satoshi to grab the box of tissues from Ms. Yui.

"Here," Naomi said, grabbing the box from Satoshi. "You're 'allergies' are acting up again."

Seiko saw this through her tear-filled eyes, taking two of them from the flower-patterned box. "Thanks, Naomi."

The double-haired girl then proceeded to blow her nose, comically. Naomi looked on, shaking her head with a playful smile etched on her face.

"Does this mean that we have to go back to school tomorrow?" Yuka asked her older brother, who along with everyone else in the room let out a hearty laugh.

Ayumi let out another rough-sounding cough, proceeding with an exhasperated sigh.

"You should rest for a little while, Shinozaki." Ms. Yui suggested, adjusting the pig-tailed girl's blankets.

"I will once everyone has gone home." She replied, adjusting herself so she could lay down for a bit.

"Yuka and I need to get going, anyway." Satoshi said, patting Yuka on the head. "Mom and dad will be home in a bit, and they'll be wondering where we are."

"I need to go home and finish unpacking the rest of my things." Mayu pointed out.

"So, you're not moving?" Ayumi questioned, looking up at the ponytailed-girl.

Mayu smiled, shaking her head. "Nope. My dad's boss gave him a promotion."

"That's great, Suzume!" Seiko exclaimed.

"Thanks!" Mayu giggled, a slight blush appearing on her face.

"You need some help with that unpacking?" Sakutaro asked.

"I need all the help I can get, Shig." Mayu replied.

"I'll walk you home and help you unpack." The blue-haired boy suggested.

"Yuka and I will help, too, if you want, Suzomoto." Satoshi also suggested with a smile.

"Thanks, Mochida!" Mayu smiled.

"No problem." Satoshi replied with a grin.

"We'll see you guys later," Mayu says, taking Sakutaro by the hand and leading him to the door. "Shig and I will be back tomorrow afternoon to see you, class rep!"

Sakutaro, Satoshi, and Yuka also said their goodbyes, and left out the door with Mayu.

"Her cheerful demeanor is almost infectious." Naomi pointed out.

"Yeah," Seiko agreed. "Can't see how she manages to stay positive all the time."

The conversation between both girls was interrupted by Ayumi's weak hacking. Each cough sounding worse than the other.

"Geez, class rep! Why don't you smoke another one?" Seiko joked with her cat-like grin.

Ayumi responded by shooting the double-curled girl a one-fingered salute, much to the surprise of Ms. Yui. The other adult in the room, Ayumi's sister, Hinoe, was not phased by her younger sister's action. It only served to her amusement as she let out a small chuckle.

Seiko laughed at the reaction she got from the weak girl. "I see Kishinuma is beginning to rub off on ya, eh?"

The blue-haired girl let out a weak guffaw. "Whatever you say, Shinohara."

"Anyway," Seiko began, fixing the collar on her jacket. "This has been fun, but I gotta go get Naomi in bed-I MEAN I gotta go take her home."

"Nice save." Yoshiki whispered, elbowing the double-curled girl in her side gently.

"Cork it, Kishinuma." Seiko bit back harshly, seeing a smirk play on the boy's face.

Witnessing the whole exchange between her love and Yoshiki, Naomi quickly cleared her throat. "Yeah, I really need to get home. Mom's gonna be home soon, and I need to go fix something for her."

Ayumi spoke. "Nakashima?"

"Yes, class rep?"

"Thanks...for everything."

Naomi smiled, nodding her head once.

She, then, turned to the girl standing beside her. "Let's go home, Seiko."

"Lead the way, my love." Seiko replied with a small bow.

Naomi giggled. "You're so silly."

The two girls then moved to leave with Seiko all but pushing Naomi out the door.

"Rest easy, Shinozaki! Me and the Mrs. are coming back tomorrow to see ya!" Seiko said, poking her head into the door one last time before shutting it.

"Mrs.?!" Naomi was heard exclaiming.

Ayumi chuckled as she pictured the bright red blush on the pixie-haired girl's face.

The blue-haired girl then sighed. Naomi wasn't that bad of a girl. She hated herself for thinking that all of these years. It was just now that she realized her former rival for Satoshi Mochida's affection was now her closest friend. Small world, huh?

"So," Yoshiki interrupted the silence. "What do we do now?"

"I need to go home and check up on Monet. I think you and Hinoe can hold down the fort here for the rest of the day, don't you?"

Yoshiki nodded. "Yeah, we can. Go home and rest, teach."

Ms. Yui gathered up her things and exited the room, shutting the door behind her.

Yoshiki looked from the door to his bed-ridden love, whom had fallen asleep sometime during the conversation between him and their teacher.

The blonde-haired boy smiled. He walked over to tuck in the sheets under the blue-haired girl and bent down to give her a kiss on the forehead.

"Sweet dreams, Shinozaki."


End file.
